Love is Unexpected
by forever13roses
Summary: Justin Bieber love story. Leah Bradey is the new girl in town and meets Justin, and they begin a summer love.  Bad summary, but good story!
1. Chapter 1

"Don't worry sweetie, everything will be fine."

_Yeah right_, I thought.

How could everything be fine? I was being dragged away from my friends, the people I loved, and some of my family. How could my mother even think to say everything would be alright?

"Yeah, it'll be terrific at this new place. You'll love it, im sure." said my father.

I didn't say anything the rest of the ride to the airport. In fact, I didn't even say anything on the plane. And since we had to make a stop and there were some extra seats on the way, I sat away from them. All the way in the back of the plane to avoid their stares.

Once we got to the Toronto airport in Canada and got everything we needed in the car, we drove to our new home. The entire ride I just stared out the window. After what seemed like hours my father announced we were 'home.'

I was asked to bring in some of the luggage we had brought, and after doing so I went upstairs to pick a room, not even bothering to look around the rest of my new home. I didn't like it all, so why should I take a tour? Anyways, my mom and dad had promised to let me pick my room first since I didn't want to be here. They probably thought it would lighten me up, but I wasn't going to give in.

I walked down the hallway and began to peek into each room. The first one I saw was a large bathroom. I would definitely be making that one mine. I stopped as soon as I had looked at the second room. It was _huge_. There was already a big bed and flat screen TV inside. I saw another door and looked inside to see it was a closet. A walk in closet. Okay, this room was definitely mine.

I ran out of the room and screamed at the top of my lungs, " I CALL THE MASTER BEDROOM!"

All I heard in response was my fathers' laughter and my mothers' complaint, but she let it go. I went downstairs to grab my stuff to put in my room then went outside into the car to bring in some of my other stuff. While I was grabbing one of my luggage, a hand was suddenly there to help me. I looked up and saw a girl who was smiling at me politely.

"Hi. Thanks for helping me out witht that luggage. Im Bella," I said, holding out my hand.

"Hey, my names Joanne. Im your new neighbor. Its really nice to meet you. Here, i'll help you out with the rest of the luggage."

For the next hour or so, Joanne helped me bring everything I owned up to my room. Afterwards, she was nice enough to help me put away some of my things. During the next few hours, we talked. I told her some of hobbies and interests, and she did the same. It turned out we had a lot of things in common, but we also had a lot of things not in common. It was like 50/50 with us. After we finished some of the unpacking, we went downstairs for a break. We looked around the house together, since I didnt get a chance to earlier.

"Hey, you'e already made a new friend."

"Oh, hey dad. Yeah, this is our neighbor, Joanne. She lives down the street. She was just helping me unpack and stuff."

"Hi sir. Its nice to meet you." siad Joanne.

"You too."

"Well, we're going to out for a bit dad. I'll see you later. Tell mom im leaving."

We walked out of the house. Joanne had said there was a park somewhere near by and that we should go see it and meet up with some of her friends. I told earlier I would go, so I had to stick to my word.

As we were leaving, I noticed a boy sitting outside next door to me. I met his gaze and completely froze.


	2. Chapter 2

He just kept looking at me. He wouldn't look away. And neither could I. I felt Joanne pulling me, and saw her hand waving in my vision. Finally, she stepped in front of me to stop me form looking at him.

"Who is that?" I asked.

"That's Nick. Don't pay any attention to him. I'll tell you about him later, but come on! We have to go!"

So we started walking again in the other direction. Joanne was walking really fast now. I could still feel that Nick was staring at me as I walked away, so I suddenly picked up my pace too. I slowed down once we were out of sight.

"Okay, tell me about him now. Who is he? Why did he keep looking at me?"

"Ugh. Don't worry, I'll tell you later on our way home or something. Just don't mention him later. The guys don't like him."

"Why?"

"I said I'll tell you later, but come on. We're already late."

I checked my phone. We _were_ late. It was 1:00. We were suppose to be there at 12:30. So we finally got to the park, and I could see 5 people on the other side of the park where we were heading. Joanne and I met up with the five people and she jumped into one of the guys arms and kissed him. They let go of each other and she introduced me.

"Guys, this is Leah, She just moved in across the street from me. Leah, this is Justin, Chaz, Kayla, Caitlin, and Ryan, my boyfriend."

She smiled at him as he took hold of her waist. I smiled shyly and said hi to all of them. Only Ryan and Chaz took my hand and shook it. The one named Justin just kept staring at me. The ones named Kayla and Caitlin were glaring at me. What was with all the staring today? Did I have a third eye I don't know about or what? I stood there awkwardly while everyone was talking. The only one who was as quiet as I was was Justin. I could feel him looking me up and down, so I blushed and looked away.

"Uhm, hey. I'm Justin. It's really nice to meet you," He was holding out his hand for me to take.

"I'm Leah. It's nice to meet you too," I said as I took his hand.

I expected him to just shake my hand like the other two, but instead he raised it up and kissed it. I blushed and looked away as he let go of my hand. I looked at him again, taking in his appearance. He had golden eyes and golden hair, with an adorable smile. He was grinning at me.

"So, uhm, what did you have planned for today?" he said, trying to start a conversation.

"Nothing really. I was just going to stay home, but then Joanne came over."

"Oh, I see. Well, what do you want to do now? I'm pretty sure you don't want to stay at a park all day."

"Uhm, not really sure. Anything I guess." I said shyly.

"You see those hills over there?" he pointed in the direction he was talking about.

"Yeah, what about them?"

"There's a really great view of the city from up there."

"Oh," was all I said.

I looked over at him, and he was smiling at me. I could tell he was hinting at something. Then the idea hit me square in the face. I guess he saw my reaction, because he smiled wider.

"Would you like to go up there with me? I haven't been there in a while."

"Ummmm…"

I looked at Joanne and asked her if she'd mind if I went. She said no and that it was a great idea.

"Hey, we should all go!" suggested Ryan.

The girls Kayla and Caitlin suddenly looked very excited. I looked over at Justin, and he was giving Ryan a look and glancing between him and the two girls. I saw realization light up in Ryan's face. Joanne was also giving him the same look.

"I mean, never mind. Joanne and I are going to stay here with Kayla and Caitlin. We'll go eat or something. We'll see you later. Peace," he said.

They all began walking away, Ryan more quickly since Kayla and Caitlin were following. They were giving me a death glare. I couldn't help but giggle at them.

"What's so funny?" asked Justin.

I knew Justin saw what I was looking at because he was trying to hold back a smile himself. I replied and said "Nothing."

Justin began leading the way to his car, and I followed. He had a Ferrari FN30. I didn't know much about cars, but my cousin back home had the same one and he always told me about it. I got in the car and we began driving.


	3. Chapter 3

"Would music would you like to listen to, ma'am?" he asked politely.

"Anything you'd like. Doesn't matter to me."

"Okay then."

He turned on the radio to a certain station. I didn't know the song, but I was pretty sure that it was Maroon 5. As we were driving to the place that Justin had pointed out, he began singing. His voice was so beautiful. Once in a while, he would look at me and sing to me some lines from the song. Sometimes he would look at me and sing, then his voice would fade out and he'd just be looking at me. Then he would snap out of it and look back at the road. Justin was driving pretty fast, so I could tell we were almost there when he began to slow down. Eventually, he stopped at a place where the road cut off and a path led into the woods. He got out of the car and ran to my side and opened my door before I could even attempt to.

"Thank you," I said.

"You're welcome," he said with a smile.

We began walking towards the path that led into the woods, and he took my hand. I looked at him in surprise as he grinned widely at me. I smiled too. As we were walking, we were both silent, keeping to ourselves. I was beginning to develop a crush on Justin. He was really sweet. He's such a gentlemen. I only wanted to know more about him. After a few minutes of walking, I tripped of course. I'm so clumsy. I can't believe I forgot my fear of hiking. I completely forgot about my clumsiness and how my face was practically a magnet to the ground. Justin helped me up as I blushed and nervously laughed. After I got up, Justin looked at me like I was crazy. Probably because I was laughing so much. The look on his face was priceless. He began laughing with me too. Once we both calmed down we started to walk again. The hill was getting really steep, so I was glad when he took my hand.

"How long until we get there?" I asked.

"Not much. Just a few more minutes. You're not tired already, are you?"

I looked over at him and he was smiling teasingly at me. I smiled back.

"No. I'm just a very clumsy person, I should warn you."

"Haha, don't worry. I'm here to make sure you won't fall again."

I smiled at that.

Finally, I could see a clearing through the trees. I ran towards it as Justin laughed at me. As soon as I did, I stopped and gasped. The place was beautiful. It was a _huge_ meadow. On the other side, there was a little creek with stone steps to get on the other side. I went over to the creek and crossed it. The meadow continued about 10 feet, and then turned slightly down to make a hill. At the bottom of the hill, it just completely cut off to make a cliff. For the first time, I realized how high up we were. I could see the whole city from here. Even if you were to go down the hill, you'd still be up really high. I was standing at the edge of the hill, just staring out at the city and being amazed over and over again, when Justin caught up to me and took my hand. I sat down on the warm grass, pulling Justin down with me. I leaned my head on his shoulder and he put his head on top of mine.

"It's really beautiful up here," I said.

"But nothing compared to you."

I blushed. I tried to push aside that comment so I changed the subject.

"How did you find out about this place?" I asked.

"I come up here when I just feel like I need alone time, or when I need to think. Just to get some peace and quiet, you know?"

"Yeah."

"Anyways, I was driving my cousins' car one day and just followed the road and ended up over there. I followed the path and came here."

"If you come up here for alone time, why did you bring me?"

"I honestly don't know. I was thinking about that in the car. I just know that I wanted to get away from everyone and get some alone time with you. I thought, why not come here?"

"Oh.,"

"So, tell me about yourself."

"What would you like to know?"

"Well, why did you move out here?"

"My mom got a new job out here."

"Where did you love before?"

"San Francisco. I really miss it there."

"Why?"

"Well, for one, I miss my friends and family. I miss my brothers and their friends, who are like brothers to me too. And everything here is so different. The people are different. The style is different. The places are different. Hell, I'm different. I don't fit in here and it's obvious. I'm a city girl. I miss being able to just leave once I wake up and go anywhere in the city that I wanted. I even miss spending over an hour to get ready just to go the mall or movies or something. I miss taking Bart, their kind of like the subways in New York. I miss doing something different every day. Hang out with different people every day, or just stay home with my best friends and be ourselves while we can. I just really miss the life that I had over there. I was practically on top of the world. I knew almost everybody from every school in the city. Some even outside the city. Now, I don't know anybody here. It makes me feel so…. lonely."

Justin was silent throughout my whole speech, and he was silent for a while after I finished speaking. He finally said something.

"Well, I'm sorry that you miss everybody and everything over there. But, where are your brothers?"

"They're still in the city. They're with our dad. Our real dad, I mean. I'm here with my mom and stepdad. I chose to go with my mom because I knew she needs the support and that my stepdad can't handle her alone. So yeah."

"You mind telling me about your best friends?"

I smiled. "I'll tell you about Jacob first. He's great. He's the most amazing best friend anyone could ask for. We both met when we were five in New York, I used to live there by the way, and both of our families moved here when we were seven. After that, we were always together. Of course, people judged us or thought we were dating or something, but we never even liked each other like that. He had girlfriends, and I had a boyfriend for a while. He understands me better than anyone, even my own brothers. He knows when I'm lying, when I'm sad, when I'm angry, when I don't want to talk about something, how to cheer me up and make me laugh again. Just anything. I miss him so much. I wish he could've come with me down here. I've never been away from him for this long since we first met. I'm just glad that we still talk everyday."

"What about your other best friend?"

"His name is KJ. He's my brothers' best friend also. We grew up together. We went to the same school since 2nd grade. He's about 1 year older than me, and he's more like an older brother than best friend, but I'd rather call him my best friend. Jacob and I didn't go to the same middle school, but Kj and I did. My relationship with him is almost exactly like me and Jacob. He's just kind of a little flirtier. I don't like him like that though. Then we all went to high school together and Jacob and Kj ended up hating each other for some reason. So I had to keep a balance. Kj was over the house more, and I spent all of my time outside of school and home with Jacob. Well, most of the time. I mean, I had other friends too. But yeah, that's about it."

I looked over at Justin, and he looked kind of upset. I felt uncomfortable asking him what was wrong, so I just changed the subject again.

"What about you? Tell me about yourself."

He immediately lightened up. "Well, my best friends are Chaz and Ryan. We usually do whatever we want on weekends. Just go around town and fool around, I guess. I live with my mom and grandparents, and I love them more than anything. I guess its kind of boring here. You just live day by day, and do whatever you want. You just have o get used to the people here."

"What happened to your dad? It's okay if you don't want to answer.."

"Naw, its okay. He left us when I was a baby. I still see him sometimes and stuff, but I don't really mind. At least he's still in my life somehow. What about your parents? What happened between them?"

"I don't really know. I guess they just lost their feelings for each other, you know? My brothers and I lived with my dad. Mostly because we were young and my mom found my stepdad a month after the divorce. So we didn't really like him because we wanted mom and dad to be together. That's also why I came with my mom. Neither of us lived with after the divorce, so I kind of felt bad. I mean, I was always a daddy's girl so I felt like I needed more time with her."

"Oh," was all he said.

After that, we were both silent. We just sat there, taking in each others story. I had never told anyone everything like that before. I mean, Jacob and Kj were there through it all, so I didn't need to tell them. But it felt weird, just putting it all out there to Justin. That was when I knew that, even though I just met him, that I could really trust Justin.


	4. Chapter 4

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

I screamed at the top of my lungs as Justin and I tumbled down the hill. He had been tickling me to make me feel better, and I rolled over, pulling both of us down. I felt so scared that we would fall off the cliff, but thankfully, we didn't. I playfully slapped him and tackled him and began to tickle him. I got up and ran to the top of the hill and got ready to jump on the first stone step to get across the creek. Suddenly, Justin's arms were around me, pulling me back. Before I knew it, I was on ground laughing like crazy as he tickled me.

"STOPPPPP! PLEASE! IT …. TICK..LES! PLEEA..SE STOP!"

"NOT UNTIL YOU SAY THAT YOU'LL GO OUT WITH ME."

I refused to say yes, so he kept on tickling me. Finally, I couldn't handle it anymore and decided to agree.

In between laughs, I managed to say, "OKA..Y! I'LL GO OUT WI…TH Y..OU! STOP TIC…KLING ME! PLE..PLEASE!"

"SAY THAT YOU WANT TO."

"I REA..LLY WANT TO.. TO GO OUT WIT..H YOU!"

"Okay."

He got off of me and released me. I was trying to get my breath back as he grinned at me. I could tell he was about to say something, so I got up and ran across the creek and tried to cross the meadow, but he pulled me back again. Why did he have to be faster than me? I was on the ground again, and he was on top of me, pinning me down.

"What now?" I said with a huge smile on my face.

"Do you really want to go out with me?" he asked seriously.

I pretended to think about it and took a long pause. I could see that he was getting upset, so I answered him.

"Yes, I really do."

A huge grin spread across his face. He was about to lean down and kiss me, but I rolled out from underneath him, got up, and began running again. I could hear him chasing after me. Of course, as I was running I tripped. I layed down on the grass, laughing at myself and having a great time. Justin was laughing right along with me. He layed down on the ground next to me and we stared at the stars. It was night time now. We had been here for hours, just talking and having a great time together and getting to know each other. Earlier, I had felt my phone vibrating like crazy because Joanne wouldn't stop texting me about where I was and what we were doing. Ryan was doing the same to Justin. So we both had decided to turn off our phones. But I now checked my phone for the time and saw that it was 9:30. I also saw 15 texts from Joanne, 19 from Jacob and Kj, and 3 from my mom asking what was taking so long. I texted her back, telling her that I was just out with a friend and that I would be home soon. I realized that it had taken about an hour to get up here, so I told Justin that we should head back now. We got up and walked back to the car. He took my hand again.

"So, did you have a good first day in town?" he asked and winked at me.

"Why yes I did, thank you very much. Did you have a good day yourself?"

"Well, good is kind of an understatement. I'd probably say great or amazing. Which ever."

I laughed a carefree laugh as we reached the car. He opened the door for me and went to the drivers' side and turned on the car. He began to drive. This time, he didn't turn on the radio. He just took my hand and we sat in silence for a while.

"So, when are you available? To go out I mean," he asked.

"Whenever, I guess."

"What about tomorrow?"

"Sure, I'll ask if I can go."

"Either way, we have all summer."

I smiled at the thought of summer. I was angry that my mom had made me leave during the summer rather than the end, but she said she wanted me to get used to this new place. But now, I didn't seem to have such a problem with that. I could already tell that Justin was going to be my summer love.  
>I checked my phone and texted Joanne back.<p>

_Hey, I'm on my way home. Where are you?_

_It's about time! I'm still at the park. Ryan's about to drop me off. Want to sleep over my place tonight? And tell me what the hell happened today?_

_Sure, I have to ask my parents though._

_Okay, well just text me once you ask. I'll go over to your place first than we'll go to mine._

_Okay, ttyl._

While I was texting, Justin had turned on the radio. He was now singing "My Girl" by the Temptations to me. I couldn't help but grin at him and join in. He smiled his adorable smile back at me. I told him how to get to my house, and soon we were turning on to my street. I told him which house to stop at and he did. He stopped the car and got out to open the door for me. He took my hand and we began talking to my front door. But on our way, I could feel Justin tense. His hand held mine tighter. I stopped and saw that he was glaring at something. I followed his gaze and saw that Justin and that guy Nick were giving each other death glares. What the hell? I told Justin to snap out of it and I pulled him along with me to my front door. I saw that Nick had gone inside too. Justin seemed to calm down a little, but he was still tense and his hand was still holding on too tightly.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked as I pulled my hand away.

"Yeah," he said shortly.

I gave him an odd look and told him thanks for today and the ride home. I was about to turn when he grabbed my arm to face him again.

"Hold on," he whispered.

I stood still as he slowly put one hand on my cheek and the other on my waist. He leaned in. We were so close to each other. I could smell his breath, and it smelled really good. I began to lean in closer also, but than I could hear the door about to open and I immediately pulled away as quick as possible. The door opened to reveal my mother, and I blushed.

"Um, hi mom. This is Justin. Justin, this is my mom," I said awkwardly.

"Hello, . It's nice to meet you," said Justin, holding out his hand. My mother shook it.

"It's nice to meet you too... Justin," my mother said. I could tell that she was trying to hold back a smirk.

"Well, I just came by to drop Leah off. Goodnight ma'am. Have a nice night," Justin said.

As he was walking away, I saw him glance to his left, where Nick lived. I saw his face flash with anger, and he walked quicker to his car. He drove out quickly.

"So, what was that about, hmmm?" said my mother.

"Nothing. Oh, can I spend the night at Joanne's house? She lives right up the block. She's the one who was over earlier."

"Oh alright. Go get your things, I guess."

"Okay, thanks mom!"

I kissed her on the cheek and ran upstairs to my room. I told Joanne to come over in about an hour. I took a quick shower, packed some clothes, and turned on my laptop. I checked my texts from Jacob and Kj. I texted them both back saying that I was with a new friend all day and that that was the reason I didn't reply earlier. I told Kj that I would tell him soon what had happened, then texted Jacob to get online to webcam. I decided to talk to Jacob because I knew he was probably not doing anything since I was away, and Kj was probably at our friend Stevens' birthday. That reminded me to text him happy birthday, so I did. After a few minutes, Jacob texted back and said that he was online. So I went on the webcam website and logged in. I video called Jacob. As soon as his face popped up, I squealed with happiness and began to tear. I hadn't seen him in over a day. I've never gone a full day without Jacob since we first met. It was so hard to be away from him.

"HEEEEY! I MISS YOU!" I screamed.

"I MISS YOU TOO! YOU DIDN'T TALK TO ME ALL DAY. WHAT. IS. WRONG. WITH. YOU," he said, pretending to be angry. I laughed.

"I was out all day with this guy. Oh my gosh, I have to tell you everything!"

So, told Jacob my entire day, starting from the airport to when I got home. The only thing I didn't mention was Nick. I didn't know why, but I didn't feel like talking about that. He asked me a bunch of questions about Justin, and I answered them. Then Jacob told me all about his day. He was thinking about asking out some girl. I told him that he better be careful with her, and he said he would. Before I knew it, Joanne called and said that she was outside. So I told Jacob goodbye, kissed camera, and turned off my laptop. I ran downstairs with all my stuff and opened the door. I told my mom that I was leaving and told her and my stepdad goodnight. Then I walked with Joanne back to her house. Once we were inside, she introduced me to her parents, her older and younger brother, and then headed upstairs to her room. Her room was just as big as mine, and built the same way. It was just decorated differently. I set my stuff down and we changed into our pajamas. Then she grabbed a radio and put it in front of her door. Then the grabber her IPod stereo and put it against one wall and put them both on the same radio station and turned it up loudly. She pulled me to the other side of her room and we sat on her bed.

"What's up with the music?" I asked.

"It's to keep my brothers from listening. Whenever I have someone over they listen through the wall or door. So sometimes I just turn the radio on so they can't hear anything. Anyways, tell me what the hell happened!"

"Okay, so we went up to these hills and kind of just sat around for a while. We talked about our past and stuff, and began to just fool around. And not like that!"

"Hahaha, im sorry. Continue," she said.

"Then we just kept running around like little kids and stuff then we left."

"What about when he dropped you home?"

"What about it?"

"Well, did he see Nick?"

That reminded me to ask her about him. "Yeah, what the hell is wrong with him? Justin was walking me to my door and they were looking at each other like they were ready to kill each other."

"Okay, well, Nick and Justin used to be really close. They weren't best friends or anything, but they were pretty close. After a while, Nick kind of turned into an ass. He started hitting on all the girls Justin began to like and same with Ryan and Chaz. Then Nick just stopped hanging out with them and hangs out with a bunch of other guys now."

"Is that why Justin looked so angry?"

"Yeah, because it obvious he likes you. A lot. And then he finds out you live right next to Nick? Of course he's going to get pissed, right? That's why Ryan doesn't really like me walking around the neighborhood."

I sat silent, taking it all in.

"You know, Justin asked me out. Damn! I forgot to ask my mom of I could go out tomorrow. Shiiittt."

"Text her right now, then."

"Oh yeah. Great idea," I began to laugh at how stupid I felt.

_Hey mom. Can I go hang out with my new friends tomorrow?_

After a while, she finally replied.

_Yes, but you better be home by 10:00 this time, okay?_

_Yeah, thanks mom! Goodnight. Love you._

_Love you too, sweetie. Goodnight._

"Yay! She said I could go out tomorrow!" I said.

"I wonder where he's going to take you?"

"Hm, I have no idea. Hey, what's up with Kayla and Caitlin? They looked ready to kill me earlier."

She laughed.

"What?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious? They seriously have a big crush on Justin. They have for a really long time now. They were probably so mad because of the way he looked at you right away."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, usually Justin doesn't really pay attention to most girls. He just seems most of them as friends. And even when he does like a girl, it takes a while for him to actually like her. I mean I was shocked myself the way he looked at you. He looked like he wanted to kiss you on the spot. He was even shy."

"No he wasn't."

"Yeah, he was. He would've shaken your hand right after Ryan did. But instead he just stood there staring at you. His face was pretty priceless."

She began laughing at the memory. Justin didn't seem to be shy around me. I mean, today he treated me like he's known me for weeks rather than a day. I guess that was all the talk for tonight. Joanne got up and we both went downstairs for a little snack. Well, what was little turned out to be a feast. We got chips, sodas, some left over slices of pizza, whip cream, chicken and Buffalo wings. She said she had some movies in her living room. So we went in there with all of our food, put on The Hangover, and began to pig out and laugh like crazy. I was glad we didn't have to keep it down. She said her two brothers slept like they were dead animals, and that her parents went out for dinner. So for the rest of the night we watched 50 First Dates, Kung Fu Panda, and ended with Big Daddy before we both knocked out cold.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey sweetie, how was the sleepover?" my mother asked as she came to the door and kissed my cheek.

"It was good. Pigged out, had a movie night, you know. Girl stuff."

"Well that's good. What time are you going out?"

Shit. I forgot to text Justin. I pulled out my phone, ready to ask Joanne for his number. But I saw a text from an unknown number. I checked it.

_Can you go out today?_

_-Justin_

_Hey Justin. Yeah, I can. What time though? My mom's wondering._

_Great! I'll pick you up at around 1. See you later :)_

"Um, I'll be leaving at 1 mom. I guess I'll get ready now, I didn't know I slept in so late."

"Okay, sweetie."

I realized it was 11:30, so I ran upstairs, plugged in my straightening iron, turned on my shower, and hopped in real quick. After that, I plugged in my blow dryer and dried my hair as quickly as possible and began straightening it. While I was doing so, I got a text from Justin that said it was hot outside and it was probably better I wear shorts where he was taking me. So I went to my closet, grabbed some jean shorts, a floral tank top, and went back to straightening my hair. At about 12:50 Justin said he was on his way and that he would be here in 15 minutes. i was already done so I went downstairs. I found my whole house empty. I checked the kitchen and saw that my mom left a note:

**Hey sweetie, sorry for leaving without telling you. Your step father and I went to go out for lunch. I hope you have a good time today. Love you.**

After reading the note, I grabbed a bottled water and sipped on it. Out of nowhere, the doorbell rang. I jumped a little, because I still had 10 minutes and wasn't expecting Justin to be so early. I skipped to the door happily and opened it. I was shocked when I didn't find Justin there. I was even more shocked that it was Nick who was standing at my door. He was looking at me with those deep eyes all over again. I couldn't look away. I was speechless, but I tried to focus on saying something.

"Uh, hi," was all I managed to say.

"Hey. Um, your parents came over this morning. They forgot this at our house."

He showed me my mothers' favorite book in his hand, and laughed inside. Of course, she brought that book almost everywhere with her. I took it from him and smiled.

"Thanks. My mom always forgets this everywhere. Well, ill talk to you later I guess,"

I smiled politely at him and turned to close the door. As I was about to, he put his foot out to stop it form closing.

"Wait, what are you doing today?" he asked.

"Um, a friend is going to take me out. Why?"

"Just wondering," he looked away quickly.

At that moment, Justin's car pulled up at the curb in front of my house. I waved at him. He had that same murderous look on his face. Nick chuckled. I looked at Nick questioningly, and returned a look that said "nothing." So I turned around and closed the door. I said bye to Nick as he walked back to his house and I walked to Justin's car. I got in.

"Hey beautiful," he said, kissing my cheek and taking my hand.

I looked at his face as he was driving away to check if he was alright. He didn't seem completely calm, more like he was trying to hold it all in. So I shyly smiled at him.

"Hey. Do you mind telling me where you're taking me?"

"Nope. It's a surprise," he said, not even bothering to hold back a smile.

"Ugh. I hate surprises though!" I said, beginning to whine like a child.

He laughed at me. "Well you just have to wait. Trust me, it'll be worth it."

"Alright, alright."

"So, um, what was Nick doing at your house?"

I could tell he was trying to ask casually, but I saw right through it.

"I guess my parents went over their house this morning and my mom forgot something. So he just brought it back over."

"Oh," he said shortly. I could see him holding in his curiosity, so I decided to tell him more.

"Yeah. He asked what I was doing today. I just said that I was going out with a friend. Than you pulled up and he just laughed."

"Why?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know."

After that, Justin was calm. He was completely back to himself. He turned on the radio and began singing to me, just like yesterday. I couldn't help but stare at him. His voice was so perfect. His face was so perfect. His hair, his eyes, his gorgeous smile. I just couldn't look away from it all. After about 30 minutes of driving, he pulled up to a curb on the road. I looked at him completely confused. He handed me a piece of fabric. It was a blind fold

I looked at him and said, "No. absolutely not. I hate surprises!"

"Well too bad. We're not leaving this very spot until you do," he said.

"Ugh, fine."

He helped my put on the blindfold, and continued driving. Being the stubborn person that I was, I didn't let him hold my hand. So he just continued to sing to me. After another 10 minutes, he slowed down and finally stopped the car. I heard his door open, then mine. The second the door opened, I smelled salt. I was confused as he took my hand and led me out of the car.

"Just follow my lead. Don't worry, okay?"

"Okay," was all I replied.

I guess he saw the worry on my face, because he asked, "Do you trust me?"

I smiled. "Yes, I do."

"Alright than."

He placed his hand on my waist, and slightly pushed me forward. He began leading me a few steps forward. He had told me to take off my shoes back at the car, so I could feel the hard ground. Suddenly, the ground wasn't hard anymore. It was soft and warm. It took me a second to realize it was sand. Then I could finally hear the waves crashing on the shore. He removed the blindfold so I could see for myself. I looked around. The beach was beautiful. I had heard lots of screaming and laughter in the car, but there was nobody here.

"Where is everyone?" I asked, confused.

"I decided to go to a private part of the beach."

He was smiling hugely at me. I ran forward and jumped into his arms. He wrapped his arms around my waist and spun me around. I felt so happy when I was around him. I laughed loudly and carefree. He stopped spinning me and looked into my eyes, still holding me with his hands around my waist. I leaned closer to him, and kissed him on the cheek. He looked a little disappointed. I giggled and ran forward towards the water. I was about to jump in, but I felt his arms around my waist again, holding me back.

"Food first," he whispered in my ear. It sent tingles down my body.

I looked to my right and saw that he had a whole picnic ready for us. I gasped.

"You did all this?"

"Yup."

I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek again and began walking to the food. I sat down on the blanket he had set up, and looked at him. He sat down next to me. He opened the basket of food and pulled out a sandwich and a coke. I immediately started eating and he followed after me. While eating, we were talking and having a good time. Talking about anything. Just being ourselves. Even after we ate, we couldn't stop laughing at some silly joke. I don't know how, but we ended up lying down next to each other and just resting. He had his arms around me, and I was lying on his chest. It all felt so natural. After a while, I could feel him playing with my hair. It felt good lying down next to him on the warm sand with the sun shining down on us. I could've stayed like that forever.

Eventually, I wanted to go in the water. So I took off my shorts and my floral shirt, Justin watching me with wide, shocked eyes, and ran to the water. It was so warm and it felt so nice. I soon felt Justin holding me in the water, and then I felt like I was floating.

I just let him hold me in the water and stared at the sky. It was such a beautiful day. I looked at Justin. he was more beautiful than any day. He was gorgeous, and I couldn't believe that I was here with him. Of all the girls in the world, he chose to take me out on a date. He chose to take me to his most favorite place that he goes to for privacy and alone time. I thought about summer. Justin was sure to be my summer love and maybe even after that there would be something more. I mean, I've had a summer love before. I just hoped this wouldn't be the same.

I hadn't noticed that I was staring at him for so long. He looked back at me with a shy smile. He looked a little nervous. He began to lean. I thought about pulling away. I mean, I just met this guy 1 day ago. But then again, I really liked him. And I was going to kiss him eventually, so why not?

He got closer and closer. He seemed to be taking a really long time, or maybe I was just impatient. I closed the space between us and his lips met mine. Immediately, I felt a spark. Everything suddenly felt perfect. It all fell into place. I could feel his hands trailing along my back, and I shivered.

He had gotten the wrong message of my shiver, thinking that I was cold from the water, so he pulled away. I ran my hand through his hair and closed the space between us again. I don't know how long we were there in the water kissing, but I could tell it had been a while. I pulled away. This time, he was the one to pull me back. I pulled away again, and smiled at him.

"I'm cold," I said.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Let's go back."

So he held me as he swan back to the sand. He still carried me one he was walking, then he layed me down on our blanket. He put his arm around me again. We sat in silence for a while, but I got up to put my shorts and floral shirt on back on once I was dry. I went back to him, layed across his chest, and kissed him.

"You want go take a walk?" I asked.

"Sure," he said with a smile.

He got up and took his shirt off, took my hand, and we began walking. For a while, I couldn't stop staring at his abs. He just laughed at me. I ran around, laughing, falling down, and acting like a little kid. I was having the time of life, just like how I felt yesterday. I looked back at Justin to see him smiling adorably at me. I just there, making a pouty face and held out my arms, wanting him to come to me. He began to walk, but very slowly, torturing me. When he finally got a few inches away from me, he took my hand, and knelt down on his knee.

"Leah Marie Bradey, I am honestly starting to fall for you. I want you to be mine. I want to be able to stand in front of the whole world and say that you're _my_ girlfriend, and only mine. It may be a little early, and I understand if you say no, but will you please, _please_ be my girlfriend?"

I stood there, speechless. For a few seconds, there was nothing going on inside my head. It was just hollow, empty. I was seeing through sightless eyes and listening through deaf ears. It took about 15 seconds before I finally gained control of myself. My eyes started to tear, and I jumped into his arms, screaming "YES!" at the top of my lungs. He picked me up and spun me in a circle and ran around. I laughed at the top of my lungs. He put me down, but still held me as tightly as ever. I leaned up and gave him a long, passionate kiss.


	6. Chapter 6

"You did **not** just do that."

"Do what?" said Justin with an innocent smile.

I dipped my finger in my ice cream and swiped it across his cheek. He pretended to be shocked and angry while I laughed at him like crazy. Then he leaned in closer to me and licked the ice cream off of my nose. We were giggling like a bunch of idiots.

After 10 more minutes, we finally left the ice cream shop. We walked to park and went on the playground. Once we got there, we went straight to the swings. Justin began pushing me. We were there for a really long time. Before I knew it, it was 8:30. We decided to go back to the beach and just hang out there for a while. When we got to the beach, we picked a random spot where there wasn't too many people, and just layed down. We sat and talked for who knows how long, but the beach eventually began to clear up. When we were all alone, he was talking about how he's good at dancing.

"Can you dance?" he asked.

I blushed. "No. Actually, I'm horrible."

"Oh come on. Everyone can dance."

"I most definitely can not. Like I said, I'm a very clumsy person."

"Well then I'll teach you."

He got up and held his hand out to me. I shook my head.

"Come on, it's not so bad. And you don't have to worry about it in front of me."

That got me to do it. I took his hand and stood up. He grabbed my arms and put them around his neck. He slowly slid his hands down to my waist.

"Now, you just gotta sway back and forth like this."

And so we stood there, just swaying back and forth, dancing to our own rhythm. I layed my head on his chest and listened to his heart beat. He rested his head on top of mine. He kissed my head.

"Do you want to stay here tonight?" he asked.

"Im pretty sure my mom would freak out and never let me go out again," I said laughing.

"Well, you're already late as it is. Why not?"

I thought about it for a long moment. It really was already late. If we left right now, I would be 2 hours late.

"Please? I don't want this night to end," he pleaded.

I laughed and finally agreed. We still continued to dance for a while before I got tired. We layed down on the sand and he put his arm around me, and I rested my head on his chest again. Before I knew it, we were both asleep.

I quietly unlocked the door and tried my best to shut it without making any noise. It was 8 in the morning, so I had to be as quiet as possible. I tip toed up the stairs. Thank God, we had carpet. I entered my room and jumped. My mother was sitting on my bed, giving me the sternest look ever.

"Um, good morning mom!" I said, trying to lighten the mood.

She just sat there and stared at me. I felt uncomfortable, so I looked away. I stood there for about 2 minutes before she spoke.

"Where have you been?"

"I went on a date..."

"With who? That boy who dropped you off last time?"

"Yup…" I ended my word with a _pop_.

"Who is he? Tell me about him."

She patted the spot beside her on my bed, so I walked over and sat down next to her.

"Well, his name is Justin. I met him the other day. I really like him. And um, that's it."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Where were the both of you?"

"He took me to some beach. It's about 45 minutes away. We stayed there for a while, then went to get some ice cream then went to the park. We got back to the beach by 8:30 and we just hung out there for a bit. And, I don't know, we just fell asleep…"

She pursed her lips. "Is he good to you?"

"Yeah, he is," I said, grinning.

"You don't think he'll end up like John, do you?"

"Mom, John's a completely different person. He was brought up different and acts different. You can't really compare them."

"It's the same. You guys have feelings for each other. How is that different?"

"They both treat me different, for one. And Justin's not a city kid like John. And Justin doesn't hang out with my older brothers and hes not in a 'family' like John is."

"It's your brothers' gang though."

"Mom, it's a family. Saying gang or crew creates a whole different image."

"Well call it whatever you want. I don't understand how it has to do with anything."

"The people you hang out with have an effect on you, mom. You said it yourself. And they hang out with different people."

"Well look at Jacob and Kj. They both hang out with different people. They were both brought up differently. Yet your relationship with the both of them is the same. Am I right?"

With that, she got up and began to walk out of the room. But before she left, she turned around.

"By the way, you're not going out today. You're grounded. Kyle and I are going out for the day, but trust me, I'll know if you leave this house. Do you understand me?"

"Ugh, yes mom."

"Okay, well I'm leaving now. So goodbye sweetie."

"Bye," I grumbled.

She left my room. I fell back on my bed, and groaned. I didn't know how my mother would know if I went out, but I know she would. She did it to me back home, and I didn't want to try it again. I plugged in my phone and texted Kj to ask what he was doing, then texted Jacob saying I would tell him what happened tonight, and then saw that I had a text from Justin.

_Did you get in trouble?_

_Yup, I can't go out today._

_Aww. I had something planned!_

_Well, we'll do it tomorrow! Don't worry. I promiseeee :)_

_Okay. I guess I'll talk to you later?_

_Yup._

_Okay, goodbye beautiful. I'll be thinking about you all day. _

_Byeee(:_

I sat there, staring blankly at my phone for a few minutes until Kj finally texted me back.

_BESTTT! I HAVENT TALKED TO YOU IN HELLA LONG! What the fuck is going on up there? Did they kidnap you or what? SHIT. Im boutta go up there myself to beat some ass if they giving you a hard time!_

_Haha, NOPEE. Im safe and sound. I gotta talk to you soon! So much stuff is going on, already! What you doing?_

_Im just home, chillin. Nothing to do. Why?_

I left my phone on my bedside and ran downstairs to grab a big bag of chips and a water bottle. I went back up stairs, turned on the TV, got comfortable in my bed, and grabbed my phone. I called Kj as fast as I could, and when he picked up I screamed.

"What the hell are you screaming for?" he said.

"I haven't heard your voice in over a day! I miss you soooo much!"

"I miss you too baby girl! Wassup though?"

"So, I met this guy Justin the other day. I've been spending a lot of time with him…"

And so I told Kj everything, starting from the park with Joanne to last night. He said some things, and then I asked him about everyone back home. He told me everything that had happened since I left, and I couldn't help but tear. I missed home so much, I missed everybody there. He told me not to cry, and that I would see them soon, but I didn't get what he mean by it. It was around 1 that my doorbell rang. I told Kj that I would talk to him later, and hung up. Curiously, I went downstairs and looked through the peephole. Standing in front of my door was Nick. I opened the door hesitantly. I didn't know what to expect from this guy. As soon as I was in his view, he smiled.

"Hey," he said.

I replied with an awkward hi.

"What do you have planned for today?" he asked.

"Nothing. I gotta stay home. Grounded, you know."

"Why?"

"Didn't come home last night. I was out with a friend."

"Oh, I see. Well, do you mind if I come in?"

"Yes, I do. I don't feel comfortable with people in my house when its just me."

"And why is that?"

"Just don't. What's with all the questions? You a detective or something?"

I was about to close the door, but, once again, he stopped me.

"Please? Im just a neighbor. There's nothing to be scared of."

I hesitated for moment. I knew he wouldn't give up, so I just opened the door wider and let him in.

"Nice place."

"Mhm," was all I said.

"Mind showing me around?"

"Yes, I do mind."

"Wow. Stuck up, aren't you?"

"Obnoxious, aren't you?" I said in a mocking tone.

"Haha. Alright. I'll give you that one."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What do you want?"

"Nothing. Just want to get to know my neighbor a little bit."

"I moved here from San Francisco with my mom and step dad. I have two brothers that still live in California with my dad. We came here because my mom got a new job. There, you can go now," I said as quickly as I could.

"What's your problem?"

"I don't know you, and you're in my house. You're rude and obnoxious. Oh, and cocky. Need I say more?"

He seemed to soften up a little bit.

"Look, im sorry. That's just how I come off as at first. But once you get to know me, im a pretty alright guy. So, just give me a chance. Please."

I looked in his eyes. I couldn't help but believe he was telling the truth. I couldn't see any hint of a lie at all. So I just walked up to my room, and he followed. When I reached it, I sat at my desk and turned on my laptop while he looked around.

"Nice room, too."

"Thanks," I murmured.

"Watcha doing?"

I jumped up really fast. Had he been standing that close this whole time? I soon recovered from my shock and sat back down.

"Just talking to some of my friends from home."

"Oh…"

He layed down on my bed and turned on the TV, totally at ease. I stared at him. How could he be so comfortable? I looked back at my computer and continued talking to some friends. I could feel Nick staring at me, but I didn't say anything.


	7. Chapter 7

Eventually, all of my friends logged off. After all, it was summer. They were in the city and not in some boring town. So of course, they were having more fun. Meanwhile, im sitting in my room with a complete stranger. I decided to text Jacob.

_JACOBBBB! What you doing fooool?_

_Who you calling foool?_

_YOU._

_WHAT._

_CHICKEN BUTT._

_PUT IT IN A CUP._

_GO AROUND THE CORNER AND LICK IT UP._

_What the hell is wrong with you?_

_Im bored as helll! _

_Why? Got nothing to do with your boyfriend?_

_Im grounded for the day. I didn't go home last night, hehehe._

_WHY? WERE YOU TWO DOING… YOU KNOW… THE NASTY?_

_Nawww. He took me out on a date and we fell asleep on the beach :3 but I'll tell you about it later!_

_DAMNRIGHT. You better tell me, or else ima kick your ass! So whassup?_

_Im sitting in my roooom. With my neighbor. That guy Nick that I told you about! Its really awkward. I don't what the hell to do!_

_Get away from him._

_Hes in my house dumbyyy._

_Righhtt. Well, I'll let you stay awkward. Talk to you later. Gonna meet up with Brian and some of the other guys. I'll tell them you said hi. PEAACCEEE._

_BITCHASSS, I hope you fall in a lake. Talk to you later thaaannn. Love ya3_

_Love you too3_

So I officially had nothing to do. No one to talk to. I was stuck with Nick. And there was nothing to do. I stopped the TV and turned on my Wii and put in Mario Kart. I handed him the remote and I got the drivers wheel. I began to get really into the game, and so did Nick. We were both yelling insults and cursing. In the end, I won. I was jumping around while Nick just laughed at my child like ways. I jumped into the middle of the bed and began laughing too. After a few seconds, our laughs faded away and we were staring at each other. Nick slowly placed his hand on my cheek and began to get closer. I didn't know what was happening, but I couldn't look away. I couldn't pull away, either. I was just completely frozen. I started breathing heavily when he was about an inch away. Our lips were about to brush, but then my phone rang loudly, causing me to jump and back away. I stared at Nick for a moment; he looked disappointed. Then I ran to my phone and answered it. It was Joanne.

"Girl, where have you been all day?" she practically screamed.

"Um, im home. I got grounded since I didn't come home last night."

"WHAT! What happened? You have to tell me everything!"

"I will. Later."

"Why not now? You're home alone, aren't you?"

"Um, no. Nick is over."

There was a long pause. I could hear her yelling at Ryan about something.

"You're with Nick? Why?"

"He just came over. And I let him."

I glanced nervously over at him. He had an amused smile on his face. Was my phone really loud enough that he could hear?

"Um, Leah, I think Ryan just called Justin. I'm soooo sorry. I'll talk to you later! Bye!"

"Wait, wha-"

The phone went silent. I looked over at Nick, who was layng down comfortably down on my bed.

"You need to go. Come on."

I grabbed his arm and began tugging at him to get him up. He got up himself and walked with me downstairs. I was unlocking the door to open in when Nick suddenly pulled me into a tight hug. I pulled away and opened the door. He walked out and looked at me for a long moment. Then he finally left and I closed the door. I put my back to the door and slid down the wall. Why did I have to tell Joanne that? Now Ryan told Justin. And Justin either wont talk to me, or he'll come over here and we'll get in a fight. I got up and went to the kitchen to get some water. I just stood there, zoning out. Nick and I have almost kissed. And I almost let it happen. After all the warnings I've gotten about him, it almost happened. I screamed out in frustration. Suddenly, I jumped; there was an urgent knock at the door. As I was walking, I realized I had been crying. I quickly wiped away the tears and opened the door. Standing there was a murderous looking Justin. But as soon as he saw me, his face relaxed instantly. He also looked shocked for a second before he turned angry again.

"What did he do to you?" His voice was so low it was almost a whisper.

"What?" I asked confused.

Then I realized it was probably showing that I had been crying.

"Oh, nothing," I said quickly.

"What. Did. He. Do," he demanded.

His teeth were clenched together tightly and his eyes were closed, and his hands were in fists.

"Really, Justin, nothing happened. He came over and we played some video games for a while."

"Than why were you crying?"

"I was worried about your reaction…"

His face went shocked at my reply.

"You know I couldn't be angry at you even if I wanted, Leah."

"Really?" I asked, shocked.

"Yes."

I jumped into his arms and he wrapped his arms around me. I leaned back and gave him a kiss. Next thing I knew, my feet were off the ground and he was walking into my house, shutting the door with his foot. When we were at the foot of the stairs, he pulled away and smiled at me. I laughed and grabbed his hand. I led him upstairs and into my bedroom. I plopped down on my bed and Justin got on top of me and started tickling me. I began screaming and laughing at the top of my lungs, beginning him to stop. After a few minutes, he finally released me. I spent a few seconds catching my breath while he layed down comfortably and smiled at me. I smiled back. I got on top of him and gave him a kiss. Once again, he put his arms around me. We sat there, staring at each other for who knows how long before my phone went off. I sadly got up to get it, groaning on the way. Justin laughed. I checked who it was, my mom. I picked up.

"Hello?"

"Sweetie, I'm about a minute away. Can you open the door? I forgot my keys."

"Okay."

I hung up and brought Justin downstairs with me. I opened the door and my mother was standing there with a few grocery bags. Her expression was shocked when she saw Justin standing there. In an attempt to not make it awkward, and to avoid questions, I grabbed two of the bags and gave them to Justin to bring to the kitchen. I grabbed two more and followed behind him. Once my mom walked into the kitchen, her eyes were narrowed at me. Justin, feeling the awkwardness, explained that he had to leave. And so he left, giving me a kiss on the cheek and a slight wave to my mom.

"You have some explaining to do," she said.

"Not really. I told Justin that I was grounded and I couldn't go out. After a while, he came over."

"Mhm," she said with a disapproving look.

"Yup."

I began to walk upstairs quickly after helping her put the groceries away. When I got to my room, I screamed, but his hand clamped over my mouth to drown out the noise.

"Justin, what are you still doing here?" I asked.

It took him a while to reply because he was laughing so much.

"I wanted to make sure you didn't get in trouble."

"Well, I will be in trouble if she finds you up here! You need to leave!"

"Please? Can I just stay the night?"

I thought about it for a moment. My mom said she'd be leaving at 4 in the morning because she had to drive somewhere really far for a meeting.

"Ugh. Fine."

His smile brightened up the room.

So for the rest of the evening, we stayed in my room. I locked my door. We tried to be as quiet as possible. Justin had called his mom and said he was sleeping over Ryan's house, and he told Ryan just in case his mom checked their house. At about 8, Kj called me and said to go online. So I went on Facebook, and he sent me a link to webcam. Once clicked it, Kj and some other faces popped up on the screen. It was my brothers and some of their closer friends. I told Justin to stay away from the screen since my brothers were there. So for about an hour Justin just layed down on my bed and played some video games. Once I got off the computer, I felt Justin's hands on my waist. He picked me up bridal style and layed me down, making me snuggle with him. After about an hour, I went downstairs to say goodnight to my mom and that she didn't need to check on me before she left. Then I ran upstairs and told Justin I was going to take a quick shower. After I did so, I went back into my room to find Justin standing there shirtless and in his boxers, lying across my bed. I stood there shocked, staring at his body. He smiled at me and patted the space next to him. I went to my bed and layed down in his arms. He sat silent while I lightly traced patterns on his stomach with the tip of my finger. For a while, I thought he was asleep. I looked up at him and saw the he was staring at me. He probably had been doing that his whole time. I could tell he seemed a little upset. I frowned.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He didn't respond. He just continued to look into my eyes.

"PLEAASSEEE, tell me. I can tell something's bothering you," I pleaded more.

"What happened with you and Nick? I know he tried something…" he practically whispered.

I was silent for a while before I replied. "He almost kissed me."

As soon as I said that, his teeth clenched and his hands balled into fist.

"What happened?" he whispered.

"We were playing video games. I got a little excited when I won and ended up too close to him. Then my phone rang and I backed away."

His knuckles went white as he balled his fists even tighter. I raised my hand and stroked his cheek, trying to calm him down. Finally, his teeth unclenched and his fists loosened, but they were still fists. I lightly kissed him on the cheek. He pulled me back and kissed me on the lips. I ran my hand through his hair and pulled him closer as he put his arms around me and got on top of me. After a few minutes, he began playing with the bottom of my shirt. His hands started trailing up my sides, so I pulled away.

"Im not ready for that yet," I said.

"It's okay. Sorry about that than, if it made you uncomfortable…"

"Its alright. Im just not ready."

Just then, my phone began ringing. Justin got off and wrapped his arms around me. I reached over to my bedside table and looked at who was calling. It was my older brother, Mark.

I answered instantly. "HELLO?"

"LEAH! I miss you, sis. What you doing?"

"Um, just lying down…" I said awkwardly.

"What are you really doing?" I imagined him narrowing his eyes on the other end.

"Nothing. Im honestly just lying down in bed. Sheesh."

"You know I could just ask Kj or Jacob later on. You minus well tell me."

"Fine. My friend is over," I said quickly.

"Gender and name," he responded just asked quickly.

"Boy. Justin."

"Does mom know hes over?"

"No, and you better not tell her."

He laughed. "What's in it for me?"

"A sweet kick to the butt. How about that?"

"Sure. Whatever. You two be safe now."

"Of course. We've been using condoms, duh," I replied playfully.

"Aye, you better be quiet. If you ever have sex, I'll make sure the guy never has kids in his life. You understand?

"Love you, too Mark. Goodnight. Tell Ken I said the same. Bye."

I hung up. I put my phone on silent and set it back down on table, then looked at Justin. He had a confused expression on his face.

"It was my brother, Mark," I explained.

"Oh. What did he say?"

"He was just joking around about sex."

His face turned even more confused. I just got under the covers, him doing the same, and then I got comfortable. I kissed him lightly on the lips then rested my head on his chest. He began singing me to sleep with "With you" by Chris brown. Before I knew it, I was sleeping peacefully.


	8. Chapter 8

When I woke up, it was very bright. I brought my arm up to my eyes to block out the sunlight, and then I tried to get my eyes used to it. I looked up and saw Justin sleeping peacefully. His face was so perfect and flawless. I just layed there for a while, staring at him. He finally woke up and saw me staring. He smiled crookedly and my heart began beating faster than I thought possible. He slightly leaned over me and buried his face in my hair. His hair smelled really good. We sat there like that for a moment before he looked up and kissed me. I was glad I didn't have morning breath, and neither did he. I got up and brushed my teeth then checked the time. It was 10:00. I told Justin to wait in my room, and then I quietly went to my mothers' room to check if my step dad was there. The room was empty and the house was quiet, so he was probably at work. I ran back into my room and into Justin's arms.

"Whoa, did you see THAT?"

"Oh please, I could do it 10 times better than you!"

Joanne and I laughed while Justin and Ryan bickered about their skateboard tricks. They were so childlike. But then again, so were Joanne and I. After a while, Joanne and I got up and left to go get some ice cream. When we were done, went back to the skate park and saw both Ryan and Justin on the floor, rubbing their heads with confused expressions.

"What was that for?"

"It's your fault! Im not the one who went sideways when you were supposed to go forward!"

"We were both supposed to go sideways!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yeah-huh!"

I busted out laughing along with Joanne. The boys looked over at us with confused and frustrated looks. Just then, my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey sweetie."

"Hi mom. What's up?"

"What time are you coming home?"

"Not sure yet. Why?"

"Well, we have some guests over."

"Really? Who?"

"Well you have to come over to find out."

I looked at Joanne and remembered that she had asked to come over.

"Wait, can I bring a friend?"

"Of course. Who?"

"Joanne."

"Yeah. Well you better come home soon, so hurry up!"

"Okay."

I hung up the phone and told Joanne what was going on. She seemed just as confused as I was. We told the boys we had to go and they gave us kisses goodbye. We began walking to my house. Once we got there, I opened the door and already I heard lots of noise and commotion. Was there a party going on? I started walking to the backyard, where the most noise was coming from. On my way, I stopped dead in my tracks at the kitchen. Standing there was Shawn, one of my brothers friends.

"SHAWN!"

I started screaming at the top of my lungs and ran -or more like jumped- into his arms and nearly squeezed him to death. He was shocked for a moment, but he hugged me back and spun me around while laughing. I guess my scream got some attention, because a bunch of my brothers other friends piled in with eager faces. They all smiled when they saw me. I stood there completely shocked. There were 3 of them here. All of them came towards me and hugged me like they hadn't seen me in years. I introduced all of them to Joanne, and they hit on her. We were all standing around and chatting when someone suddenly rammed into me and gave me a bear hug. My breath was completely knocked out of me. When I was finally released, I turned to see who it was. As soon as Kj's face came into my vision, I jumped up into his arms again and returned the bear hug. He lifted me off the ground and I felt that I was spinning. Once he set me down, I asked where my brothers were and how they all got here.

"Your uncle. Since he's a pilot, he got to take us on a free trip down here. We took a pretty small plane, but it was sick!"

"Oh my gosh, really? I have to remember to thank him! But where are my brothers?"

"They're out in the back. Go ahead."

I tugged on his hand to go on along with me, but he said he wanted to stay in the kitchen to eat. I shot him a confused look, and then went outside into my backyard. My two brothers Ken and Mark were sitting by the pool chatting with my mom. And sitting with them was Jacob.

"JACOB!"

I ran forward as fast as my legs would push me and knocked into him. He gave me a giant bear and I got the wind knocked out of me once again. Next I greeted my two brothers with the same hug. I went inside to get Joanne and introduce her to my brothers and Jacob. While they all shook hands, I saw Mark looking Joanne up and down. I glared at him with a murderous look. He instantly looked away, biting down hard on his lip. The rest of the night, I spent all of my time with the closest guys in my life. Eventually, Joanne had to go back home. I laughed as I saw the disappointed and rejected look on Shawn and Alex's faces. We had a few guests rooms upstairs and downstairs, so everybody was suppose to get a room. But the guys just knocked out on the floor or on the couch in the living room. Kj was knocked out along with everyone else except Jacob. So I took Jacob to show him my room and told him everything that had happened since we last talked. He told me lots, also. At around 2 in the morning, Jacob knocked out on the floor. I soon fell asleep, too.

In the morning, my mom and I completely ran out of pancake mix even though we had just gotten it. The second I woke up, I had texted Justin saying that my brothers and his friends had come over, and that he could come if he wanted to. He said he'd be here around noon and that he'd bring Ryan and Joanne. At about 12:00, everyone left except my brothers and Jacob. The rest of the guys had decided to go and take a look around town, so it was just us. We were talking and laughing in my backyard eating when the doorbell rang at 12:30. I ran to the door and swung it open. The second I saw Justin, I jumped into his arms and kissed him. Joanne and Ryan rolled their eyes. I grabbed Justin's hand and led them all into the backyard. As soon as my brothers and Jacob saw my hand holding Justin's, they fell silent. Justin looked nervous.

"Dorks, this is Justin and Ryan. And you already met Joanne. Justin, Ryan, these are my brothers Ken and Mark. And this is my best friend Jacob."

They all slightly waved at each other.

"Where's everyone else?" asked Joanne.

"Oh, they all went to take a look around town."

After that, everyone began to relax. All the tension was gone, though Ken and Mark stole glances at Justin and me once in a while; mostly at Justin though. We continued eating and having a good time. Suddenly, Ken and Mark pulled me inside the kitchen to talk with me.

"Since when did you get a boyfriend?" demanded Ken.

"Since I moved here. Sheesh."

"How did you two meet?"

"He's a friend of Joanne's. Met him at the park."

"Oh, so that's the guy that slept over the other night!" exclaimed Mark.

"What?" said Ken.

"Nothing. He slept over. That's it" I replied calmly.

He narrowed his eyes at me.

This was why I liked Mark more. Sure, Ken was the oldest and he had the right to be more protective and suspicious, but he could back off once in a while. Mark was more layed back, more of a 'whatever' type of guy. I always liked that about him. We walked back outside and spent the rest of the day as natural as possible. Jacob kept giving me teasing looks whenever Justin looked away from me, and I would give him a murderous glare. Joanne and Ryan left early, so at around 8 all of the guys were back.

The rest of the night, Justin didn't notice it, but I did. Ken watched us from the other side of the room, while Mark stayed close. At least Mark was acting relaxed. Ken was all tense and had his hands balled into fists. And since Kj and Jacob were here, they were in on it too. Kj stayed more away from us, closer to Ken. Meanwhile, Jacob stayed just a little bit further away from Mark. All of them were watching every move Justin made, such as when I grabbed his hand or when he put his arm around me. Other than this, the night was pretty relaxed and good.

At around 12, Justin went home. So all the guys took turn playing video games while I went into the kitchen with Kj and talked. I was so glad he was here. I was glad that all of them were here. I knew that once they left, I would be pretty depressed for a while, so I cherished every moment with them.

A few days later, I had gone out with Jacob and Kj. I had got them to get over their differences, especially since I barely got see them both and I didn't want to chose between them every time. So the 3 of us went into town and just walked around and did whatever there was to do. For a moment, I was a little jealous. They would sometimes talk about some boy stuff and completely forget I was there. But then I remembered that I wanted them to talk, and I knew they didn't mean to leave me out so I pushed those thoughts aside. When we got back home, I was surprised to hear a different voice. I walked quickly to the backyard where everybody was, and saw Nick with my brothers and their friends. They were all laughing at something Nick had said, but stopped once they saw me and my confused expression. Nick smiled at me.

"Hey beautiful," he said.

"Um, hi," I said awkwardly. Why would he say that in front of my brothers?

"What did you guys do?" asked Mark.

Why did he seem so casual about this? If Justin had said "Hey beautiful" to me, my brothers would've tensed and held themselves back. Yet, they were both as comfortable as ever. It was as if Nick hadn't even spoken at all.

"Eh, just walked around. Kind of boring," said Jacob.

"Yeah, it does get pretty boring around here," replied Nick.

What the hell was going on?

Finally, Kj asked the question I was hoping for him to say. "Who are you?"

"Im Nick. I live right next door."

Nick got up and fist punched Kj and Jacob. I stood there shocked with a frustrated look.

"Are you okay?" asked Nick. He began walking towards me, but I backed away.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Hey, don't be rude," warned Ken.

"Naw, it's alright," said Nick. "Just thought I'd stop by to say hey. Haven't talked to you in a while, so why not?"

He gave me an innocent smile, and I melted.

"Alright…" I said slowly.

He carefully took my hand and led me to the other side of my backyard where there was a porch swing and we sat down. He never let go of my hand. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I didn't pull away either. I glanced over at the group of guys to see who was glaring, but nobody was. What the hell? They acted so casually, not even noticing our absence. They weren't like this with Justin. Why were they like this with Nick? That wasn't fair. Something had to be going on.

"What did you say to my brothers to get them to like you?"

"What?"

His forehead crinkled with confusion. It looked adorable, but I stopped myself as soon as I got that thought.

"My brothers… they really seem to like you. What did you do?"

"Nothing. I just came over to see you and Alex opened the door. He asked me who I was, I introduced myself, and he invited me into the backyard. Then we just began joking around and stuff."

I could tell he was being honest, so I asked "How long have you been here?"

"Just a few hours. Maybe 2 or 3. Why?"

"Just wondering," I said biting my lip. "My brothers never act so casually when a guy is over that they don't know. Especially when they're with me."

"Well maybe that's why. They got to know me first, instead of just seeing me with you and getting the wrong impression?" he guessed.

"Hmm. I guess…"

So we sat there for a while, just talking. While I was, I pretended to use my hands to talk and sneakily let go of his hand. I saw the disappointment on his face when I did but I ignored it. After about 10 minutes, everybody else went inside to eat. As I was looking them walk away, the seat disappeared from under me and I was in Nick's arms. He was running to the pool and I could hear a few chants from inside. The next thing I knew, Nick jumped into the air and I was soaking wet. I rose back up to the surface. When I did I began laughing like crazy. When I turned around to look for Nick so I could splash him, I was shocked to find his face inches from mine. For a second, I froze. I studied his face. His hair was curly, the way it always was. It looked adorable. His chocolate eyes met mine, and I knew I was getting too distracted. I tried to play off the last few seconds as if they never happened so I splashed him with water and playfully tried to get away from him quickly. I ran to the kitchen and slowed into a walk with Nick trailing behind me. We walked through the house and to the edge of the living room, not wanting to get the carpet wet there. I was going to ask Mark or Ken where the towels were since I didn't know where my mom places them, but I ended up stopping dead in my tracks. Justin was sitting in the living room with everybody. I felt Nick bump into me since I stopped, but I didn't look away from him. He had been smiling at me, but it had swiped off his face when he saw Nick. I waved at him and smiled shyly, then asked where the towels were.

"Um, I think they're in the laundry room."

So Nick followed me to the laundry room and we got towels. I gave him some of Mark's clothes knowing that he wouldn't mind and let him change in the bathroom. I ran up to my room, quickly jumped in the shower, and dressed into jean shorts and a tank top. I was drying my hair with a towel as I walking back into my room when I saw Justin sitting on my bed. I instantly smiled and ran into his arms, dropping the towel on the way. I pushed him onto the bed and gave him a kiss and smiled down at him. He gave me the crooked smile that I loved so much and I couldn't help but kiss him again. He kissed me back, and we layed there making out for a while before a roar of laughter downstairs stopped us. I hesitantly got back up. He didn't say a word as we both went downstairs. As we passed the living room, I waved goodbye to everyone. Justin gave me a confused look.

"Whoa whoa whoa, where are you two going?" asked Ken. He stood up.

"Were going to go to the park or something. See ya," I said, walking back out again as quickly as I could.

Justin and I began walking to his car. He still had a confused look, but he opened the door for me than went to the drivers' side. He started the engine.

"So, where are we going exactly?" he asked.

I smiled at him. "The beach? Feels like a nice day for it."

"What about your brothers and friends?"

Just then, there was a tap on my window and Jacob's face appeared.

"Where you guys going?" he asked.

"The beach. Why?"

"Better be home on time. Ken will beat your ass if you don't."

"Yeah, yeah."

Jacob walked back into the house and I told Justin to start driving before someone tried to stop us. As we drove, we turned the radio up full blast and sang along to the words. I couldn't help but feel like I was on top of the world. Justin took my hand and I felt my heart race. I looked into his golden eyes and couldn't help but compare them to Nick's. I could look into these eyes all day. I would pick Justin's smooth honey brown hair over Nick's brown curls any day. Justin looked over at me and grinned. His smile was so perfect. His face was flawless. How could he be all mines?

He turned down the radio. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing. You're just… well, beautiful," I said while blushing.

He laughed. "I wouldn't say that with you here in comparison."

I blushed even more.

Once we parked the car, I ran straight to the beach with Justin following after me. He grabbed my waist and spun me around. I screamed happily at the top of my lungs while he laughed. Justin took off his shirt and led me into the water, which was pretty warm. I laughed and splashed each other and played with some of the little kids there. I was having the time of my life, but I always felt like that when Justin was around. Still I couldn't help but feel like the happiest and luckiest girl in the world. And the way Justin looked at me when I smiled or laughed made that feeling even stronger.


	9. Chapter 9

As we drove home, I couldn't help but open the window and lean my head on the edge. The breeze felt so nice. Justin probably thought I was sleeping since he was quiet the whole ride and kept stroking my hand with his thumb. Once in a while I would peek over at him and see him smiling like a goof, and I would try not to laugh and pretend I was sleeping. The radio wasn't playing, so Justin was humming to himself the whole time. Once we got to my house, he gently shook me. Again, I tried not to laugh. I lazily opened my eyes and smiled at him.

"Welcome home sleeping beauty," he said.

I giggled as he went to open my door for me. When he did, he scooped me up in his arms and walked me to my door. It was unlocked, so he opened it and walked right in. He went over to the living room and plopped me onto the couch. I made an angry face at him as he chuckled.

"Where is everyone?" I asked to no one in particular.

"UP HERE!"

I looked up to see Kj at the railing upstairs. I looked at him questioningly.

"WE'RE PACKING OUR STUFF. WE'RE LEAVING IN TWO DAYS, REMEMBER?" he screamed.

"KJ! YOU DON'T HAVE TO YELL. I CAN HEAR YOU PERFECTLY," I yelled back playfully.

"OH, OKAY," he said, smiling back at me.

I took Justin's hand pulled him upstairs with me. We went to one of the guestrooms where Kj, Jacob, and Shawn were packing up. I frowned.

"You guys have to leave soon?" I said, pouting.

"Aw, don't cry. I'd miss me too," said Shawn in a mocking tone. I reached out and smacked his arm.

"Ugh. This house will be so quiet. I had a hard time the first few days getting used to a quiet house."

"Come on, were not that loud."

"Yes, you are. How would you feel moving away from everyone and being the only minor in a huge house?"

"I see your point," he said, focusing back on packing.

I sighed as Justin lightly rubbed my back trying to comfort me. I went into the game room-well, it used to be a spare room until the boys came, then we turned into a game room-to find my brothers and some of the other guys playing video games. They all greeted me once I was in sight. Thankfully, Nick wasn't over. I frowned as I wondered what happened after Justin and I left.

"You guys wanna play?" asked Alex.

"Sure," said Justin.

Justin went over and sat next to Alex, grabbing a controller on the way. They began playing. I sat down next to Mark, who was watching the rest of them play, just like me.

"So, uh, you and that Nick guy… what's up with that?" he asked.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Justin tense slightly. I gulped.

"Nothing really. I guess he likes me."

"Well then he sure as hell like you a lot."

"Why would you say that?"

"He told us when he first got here."

"Oh."

The whole time, I had been looking at Justin. I knew he was listening.

"So how do you feel about him?"

"He's nothing more than a friend. He just gets the wrong message."

"Sure…" Mark said, smirking at me. I glared back.

Mark chuckled. I still glared at him, because he knew that Justin was listening. Why didn't they like Justin? My anger began to build up. Mark saw this so he began to get up and away from me. _You better go away _I thought. Just then, Shawn walked into the room. I got up and went to the guest room that Kj and Jacob were in and shut the door. I slid down the wall and sighed.

"Why don't they like Justin?" I groaned.

"Aw, they do. They just prefer that other guy," said Kj.

"Yeah, I mean, they just like him better. I don't know why, so don't ask us. They just do," said Jacob.

I groaned again and ran my hand through my hair. Somebody knocked on the door. I got up and opened it to find Justin standing there.

"I have to go," he said.

"Okay, I'll walk you down."

We made our way down the stairs and to the door.

"So…" he said awkwardly.

"What?"

"Nick was over earlier?"

"Yeah."

He bit down hard on his lip.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later."

He opened the door and walked towards his car. I kept my eyes on him until he drove around the corner and out of sight. I knew I would have to deal with Justin later. He was definitely upset. I ran back up to the guest room to find it empty. I went back to game room and found everybody else there. I sat in between Jacob and Kj and leaned my head back, closing my eyes. I felt relaxed. Jacob took hold of my hand lightly, in a friendly way. I opened my eyes and looked into his and smiled. He was always the more sincere one. He wasn't afraid to talk about the gooey stuff while Kj tried to be manly about things. Don't get me wrong, I love them both. They just took things in different perspectives and I was thankful for that.

The rest of the night, I tried to be happy. I tried to hang out with everyone just like I did back home. It was hard to do, but I did it. I put on a fake smile and faked laughs. But in the back of my mind, I couldn't stop thinking about Justin.

The next day, we all went to the beach. We drove my moms van and my stepdad's car since there were so many of us. Once we got there, we all piled out and ran around. I had decided to bring Joanne with me because I didn't want to be the only girl there. So while all the boys played football and such, Joanne and I layed out our towels and let the sun hit our skin. After the beach, we all drove to some restaurant near the beach. We got a table near the window, since there was so many of us, and the view was absolutely amazing. We took hundreds of pictures and ate and just had a good time. Of course, some of the guys hit on Joanne even though we had told them she wasn't single. After dinner, we drove back home. We dropped Joanne off since all we had to do was stop the car for a few seconds. Once we got home, some of the guys just dropped dead onto the couches. The others struggled to go upstairs and change, though with much effort. Once everybody had taken their showers and gotten ready for bed, we all said goodnight to each other and went to sleep.

In the morning, my mom and I went with everybody to the airport. We were there for a few hours, which made me happy because I always loved roaming around the airport and fooling around and buying from the stores. It just seemed fun to me for some reason. But once it was almost time for the guys to leave, that mood was gone. I began crying and hugging everyone goodbye. They all got on their plane one by one. The last person to say goodbye was Jacob, right after Kj had told me goodbye. I cried into Jacob's shoulder, kissed his cheek, and he walked into the plane. I sobbed until the plane was out of sight, then my mother drove me home. I instantly ran up to my room, locked my door, got into bed and sobbed into my pillow. I hated saying goodbye, especially to the people I loved. So I lay there for the next few hours, crying or simply laying down as if I were dead. I didn't bother checking my phone. I promised not to check it until it was about time my brothers and friends would get off the plane. So at about 11, after I woke up, I was glad to see I had 8 texts from some of the most important people in my life saying they were home, safe and sound. I double checked my other messages since I focused mainly on the other ones. I saw only 2 from Justin. I checked them. The first was only asking if I was alright and the second saying to call him as soon as possible.

I got up, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and went back to my room. I layed back into my comfortable bed and called Justin. He picked up on the 4th ring.

"Hello?" he answered in a groggily voice.

My voice was hoarse when I replied. "Hey."

"Are you okay? Look, im sorry about the other day. If I gave you the cold shoulder or anything. I just don't like Nick. I don't know what it is; he just… gets under my skin and knows how to irritate me."

I giggled. "Don't worry. I was just sad that my brothers and friends left."

"Need me to come over?"

"Well, im still in bed."

"I'll be there in 15 minutes."

The line went silent. I sighed and stared at the ceiling for a few minutes. I finally decided to get up and get ready. I took a shower as quick as possible and changed into jean shorts and a white v-neck. I quickly blow dried my hair and looked at the natural curls. They were beautiful and I love them. Just then, my doorbell rang. I raced down the stairs and flung the door open. Justin stood there, looking more like a god than anything else. He was wearing cargo shorts and black v-neck that fit him perfectly. I bit down on my lip and blushed. He smiled at me and pulled me into his arms. I hid my head in his chest and inhaled his scent. He smelled so good that it was difficult to pull away. He took my hand as we made our way to his car.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"It's a surprise," he said with a mischievous grin.

I groaned as he closed the passenger door and got into the drivers seat. He grabbed my hand and smiled at me and began driving. I didn't know where we were going, but it wasn't pretty far. After about 10 minutes, he stopped the car in front of a house. I looked at him questioningly.

"This is Ryan's house. Were gonna stay here for a while. The bigger surprise is for later."

He winked at me and got out of the car. I opened the door for myself before he had the chance to. He frowned slightly, but still grabbed my hand banged on Ryan's door.

"YO! OPEN UP! BIEBER IS HEEERRREEEE!" he screamed.

I laughed at how casually he did this; almost like he did this everyday. Ryan opened the door, devouring a sandwich. I laughed once again at the look on his face. He looked at me like a confused dog when I did, but I ignored it when I heard Joanne's voice and let myself in. The house was very big, just like mine, but it was built differently. I liked being in someone else's house for a changed. I set myself down comfortably on the couch next to Joanne and we instantly began talking. I don't exactly remember what we were talking about – probably anything I guess. After a few hours, I fell asleep leaning my head on Justin's shoulder. It seemed like only minutes of sleeping when he woke me up, though it had been 2 hours. I was lazy to get up, so he carried me to the car and sat me down in the passenger seat. Joanne, Ryan, Chaz, and Christian followed us in Ryan's car.

Justin began driving. We drove for about 30 minutes. In the car, Justin and I joked around and laughed. I felt so happy with him. When Justin stopped the car, we were at the beach. But on the beach, it wasn't empty. I looked around. there had to be about 50 people. And in the very center was a huge fire. I looked at Justin in shock. He had taken me to a bonfire, where all of his friends were. I was suddenly nervous. I didn't know any of the people here. I gulped. Justin took my hand and smiled at me reassuringly. I smiled lightly for his sake. He stepped out and I let him open the door for me. I stood there for a second, completely scared of that they would think of me. Justin squeezed my hand tightly and led me forward. I was stiff as I walked. Suddenly, my legs became jelly. They were shaking so badly that I had to grip Justin's arm for support. Joanne appeared at my side and gently grabbed my hand. She was saying how there as nothing to worry about. But I knew that there was plenty to worry about. There were lots of girls here, and I knew that most of them liked Justin. He was super popular. I knew that I would also get lots of dirty looked tonight.

We walked closer to the group of people. Just like I predicted, I instantly got glares from most of the girls once they saw Justin holding my hand. Others looked either shocked or confused, including the guys. I hid my face in my hair and shied closer to Justin. he squeezed my hand once again as we reached everybody and he introduced me.

"Hey, everybody. This is Leah. She just moved here a while ago."

As he finished speaking, the glares grew more harsh. Most of the girls simply turned away. The rest of the girls, about 15, smiled at me. Some even rushed over to me and gave me a friendly hug, which I returned. Next, all of the guys approached me, shaking my hand then kissing it, or giving me a simple hug a polite smile. A few even smirked at me and Justin. Joanne took my hand and pulled me away from Justin, and led me to the food. We both got a plate and few things to eat then made our way to a log and sat down with some of the other girls, the nicer ones might I add. We instantly got along, joking around and laughing and being girls.

I felt like either laughing at myself or punching myself. I had been so nervous about nothing. A lot of the people here were so nice, and I was also having a good night. Some of the guys were being a little too nice to me, which caused Justin to sit next to me. At around 8, everybody yelled out in delight. I looked around, confused, and turned my head to where everyone was facing. There was a huge crowd of guys, and some girls, around some person I couldn't see. It took a minute or so for the group to break up, and once they did I immediately recognized beautiful brown curls and eyes that met mine. Nick smiled hugely at me. He seemed happy, on top of the world.

Justin noticed this and tensed. He tried to get my attention back to him.

"So, how do you like tonight so far?" he asked, wrapping his arm around my waist.

"I'm having a great time. Thanks for bringing me here," I replied honestly, kissing him on the cheek.

He grinned from ear to ear. Just then, a hand gently pulled mine up and kissed it. I looked up, alarmed, and saw Nick grinning down at me with caring eyes. He didn't even seem to notice Justin's angry glare.

"Hello beautiful," he said in a soft voice.

I blushed and quickly looked down, then brought my face back up to look at him again.

"Hey."

He smiled. "Do you mind coming with me?"

"Where to?"

"Maybe a short walk."

He didn't make it obvious, but I noticed the slight emphasis he put on the words "maybe" and "short."

"Um…"

I looked at Justin. He hadn't taken his eyes off Nick. Joanne saw this and quickly tried getting Justin's attention.

"Justin, can you get me some water please?" she asked.

When he didn't reply, she got up and tugged on his arm with all her might and pulled him away. Nick chuckled and lightly grabbed my hand for me to get up and follow him. As soon as he let me up, I put my hand in my pockets; well, Justin's pocked since he'd given me his jacket when it got a little windy, though I didn't ask for it. Since my hands were in my pockets, Nick couldn't hold my hand. He tried hiding his frown. Soon, we were walking away from the group of people.

"So, you and Justin official now, huh?"

"Gee, how'd you know?" I asked, slightly sarcastic.

"One of the guys told me when I got here."

"Oh. Well, yeah. We have been for a while now…"

"Oh, I see."

We continued walking in silence for a while. But I couldn't stand it for long, so I changed the subject to him.

"What about you? You have a girlfriend or anyone you like?" I asked.

It took him a few seconds to reply. "I like this one girl. A lot. She's really growing on me. I think I might be in love," he added playfully.

"Oh, well it sucks that she has a boyfriend."

"Yeah."

He looked at me with sad and meaningful eyes for a moment.

"But I'll find a way to get her. I know that she kind of likes me too," he continued.

"How do you know?"

He smiled. "The way she looks at me. The way she doesn't stop me from trying to kiss her. I never have, it's just that something always gets in the way. When I hold her hand, she doesn't even mind either."

"What if she just doesn't want to make you feel bad?"

"Nah. I don't think so. I could tell she's nervous sometimes."

"How?"

He shrugged. "I just do. Don't know what it is, but I could just tell."

He smiled at me as I looked at him with big eyes. I stared at him for a second, puzzled by his words. Quickly, I turned around and began walking back. I don't know why I did it, but I did. He followed after me just as quickly. As soon as I was back at the bonfire, I walked around people to look for Justin. as I was doing so, I bumped straight into somebody. It was Ryan.

"Oh, I'm so sor- Oh hey! What happened with you and Nick.

"Nothing," I said in an irritated tone. "Where's Justin?"

"Over there with Caitlin," he said, stuffing his face with the remains of his hot dog.

He walked away and I looked to where he pointed for Justin. Sure enough, he was standing there with Caitlin. My anger bubbled up. Not because he was with her, but because of the way she looked at him. She was all over him, touching his arm and wearing a flirty smile. I knew if I walked up to him, I would cause a scene, which I didn't want to do. So, as quickly as I could while looking normal, I walked away from everybody once again. This time, alone. I kept on walking and walking along the shore until the huge group of teenagers looked tiny in the distance. I found a place where the sand rose up slightly, making a little hill. I went to the highest point and sat down and stared at the water.


	10. Chapter 10

The view was beautiful.

I'm not sure how long I sat there, staring at the water. Eventually, I had layed down to stare at the stars. I tried to clear my mind completely since I wouldn't think of anything positive. So I simply stared up and let my brain shut down. After who knows how long, a voice made me jump.

"What are you doing all the way out here?"

I looked towards the sound of the unfamiliar voice. Once my eyes adjusted, I saw a face I didn't recognize.

"Who are you?" I asked.

He held out his hand. "I'm Andrew."

I shook his hand. "Leah."

"Pretty name," he said, smiling with his bright white teeth.

He sat down next to me and said, "So what are you doing out here?"

"I don't know. Just felt like some alone time. Nobody's looking around for me, right? I don't want to worry them."

"Who did you come with?"

"Justin, Joanne, Ryan, Chaz, and Christian."

"I think I saw Joanne looking around. But I don't really pay attention to the other guys."

"Oh, okay."

We sat there in silence for a while before he asked, "Wait, your that girl that was holding hands with Justin earlier, right?"

"Yeah."

"Are you, like, his girlfriend or something?"

"I guess. Why?"

He shrugged. "Just saw him with Caitlin the whole night."

"Oh."

I tried to keep the tears that were forming in my eyes from spilling over. Why was I crying? I had been with Nick earlier. Why was it suddenly a problem when he was with Caitlin? I was silently praying that Andrew would begin talking again to take my mind off things. Thankfully, he did.

"Why are you really out here? A beautiful girl like you shouldn't be away from the party."

I smiled slightly at his compliment. "Not really. Most of the girls there don't even like me."

"Well that's only because you're with Justin. All the girls like Justin at one point or another. They're mainly jealous because he doesn't really give any girl a chance. He hasn't had a girlfriend for about 2 years."

"Because of Nick, right?"

He chuckled. "Partly. But even when Nick doesn't get involved he only talks to the girl for about 2 weeks at the most. Then he moves on to the next. I guess you could say he's a player. But a lot of girls stay friends with him. He doesn't mean to break their hearts or anything. It just happens. He loses feeling. You know what I mean?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

"He's a really good guy, though. He's cool. That's why everyone likes him. I guess he has that 'charm.'"

"You don't like him or something?"

"Nah, im cool with him. We've known each other for a long time."

"I see."

"Well, you want to get back to the party?"

"It's okay. I think I could hide out here until it's over," I said, smiling shyly.

"I guess I could stay out here with you. I mean, if that's alright? Its getting kind of boring over there, and its almost over."

"I don't mind. You're nice to talk to."

And I meant it. Andrew was a really nice guy. He was easy to talk to, and he wasn't the type to make you feel uncomfortable.

"Hey, do you know what time it is?" I asked.

"I'd say probably about 9. Why?"

"I don't really want to go home. But I don't want to stay here either."

"I know what you mean."

"What's wrong?" I asked, noticing the hint of sadness in his tone.

"I like this girl over there. But she wont even give me the time of day," he said with a bitter smile.

"Why not?"

He shrugged. "Just doesn't like me, I guess."

"Have you tried really hard to talk to her?"

"Yeah. But im just another guy to her."

"You should do sweet things for her. Bring her flowers one random day; give her a teddy bear the next. Try to take her out on dates. Just be sweet."

He smiled. "I guess I could try that."

I returned the smile and looked back at the water.

"You're really nice," he said.

"You too. You're so easy to talk to."

"Thanks. Well, I guess I'll go back to the party and leave soon. Want to come?"

I shook my head. "I'd rather stay here. I'll wait a little longer."

"Okay," he stood up and looked down shyly. "Can I get your number?"

I smiled. "Sure."

I gave him my number and told him to text me later since I didn't have my phone. I hugged him and he walked away with a friendly smile. I sighed and layed back down and stared at the stars. I closed my eyes, feeling totally relaxed. I let my mind wander off. Soon enough, I was sleeping.

"LEAH!"

I woke up, startled. My hands immediately shot up to the sides of my head since the scream was still ringing in my ears.

"What the hell was that for Joanne?"

"ARE YOU CRAZY? We've been looking for you for about 30 minutes! We had no idea where you went until Andrew told us! What are you DOING out here?"

"I felt like taking a walk," I said in a small voice.

"Taking a walk," she muttered. "What the hell is wrong with you? Going this far away from the bonfire! You could've gotten raped out here or something! Nobody would've been here to protect you."

She quickly pulled me up and began walking away, muttering "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

I followed after her, dragging my feet. I was still tired from my little nap.

"What time is it?"

"10," she muttered angrily.

I slowed down my walk. I didn't want to be around her if she was so angry. She turned around.

"Hurry up!"

"Where's Justin?"

"He went home already."

"With who?"

"I think Caitlin."

She saw the worried look on my face and her expression turned apologetic.

"Aw, don't worry. I think he was drinking a little," she said.

"Was he angry?" I asked in a tiny voice.

"A little bit when Nick took you away. Then he started talking to Caitlin and calmed down a little."

"Oh… so how am I getting home?"

"Ryan's gonna drop us off. Come on," she said, taking my hand and pulling me along – more gently this time.

I followed her. This time, she kept up with my slow pace. We eventually made it to Ryan's car and she got in the passenger seat as I got in the back. I realized Chaz and Christian weren't there.

"Where's Chaz and Christian?" I asked.

"They got a ride with someone else," replied Ryan.

"You haven't been drinking tonight, have you?" I asked, afraid he might crash or something.

He laughed. "Nah, just eating and eating away."

I relaxed and got comfortable in the back seat. It would be about a 40 minute drive, so why not take another nap?

Soon, we arrived at my house, Ryan gently shook me. I was awake, but too lazy to move. He noticed this and got out of the car. He opened my door and carried me out and to my front door.

"Is it locked?" he asked.

"It shouldn't be," I muttered lazily.

I heard the door click open. He carried me up the stairs and into my room and tucked me in.

"Thanks," I said, more clearly this time.

"No problem."

"Where did Justin go?" I asked, trying to keep my eyes from closing.

"Don't worry about it. Get some sleep." He spoke in a gentle voice.

"Where is he?" I demanded.

"I honestly don't know. I just know that he left with Caitlin."

"Only her?"

"Yeah," he said shortly.

I nodded. "Okay. Well, I guess you could leave now. Thanks again, for bringing me home."

"Like I said, no problem."

I held out my arms and he came closer to hug me. Once he let go, he turned off the light and walked out the door. A few seconds later, I heard the front door gently close and I fell asleep.

I woke up around 10. I walked around the house, and I was home alone again. My parents were still on a business trip. I lazily got myself a bowl along with cereal and milk. I sat down on a stool and began eating. I felt like crap. I thought back to last night. Justin had completely ignored me. I went over what happened. We had been getting along. Everything was perfect. Then I remembered Nick. When he came along, Justin got angry and I didn't hear from him the rest of the night. I grew sad. But then again, I didn't want to talk to Justin. He had been talking to Caitlin, and I saw the way she had been looking at him. I knew she tried something on him last night.

To get my mind off things, I picked up my phone and called Jacob. He picked up on the 3rd ring.

"Hello?" he said in a tired voice, and slightly irritated.

"Hey," I said sadly.

His voice became alarmed instantly. "What's wrong?"

And so I told him the main points of what had happened last night.

"What the hell? Nick really caused all of that?"

"Yup."

"Wow. He actually seemed pretty cool, too. Well, I guess not."

"Mhm."

On the other end, I could hear someone else talking. Then there was a scream.

"What happened?" I asked.

He laughed. "Josh just came in and tried to hit me."

"Oh. Well I guess I'll let you guys go. Bye, talk to you later. Love you, bye."

I hung up the phone and continued eating. I realized the cereal turned soggy, so I threw it away and put the bowl in the sink. I stood there, staring off into space for a while. Finally, I built up the energy to go upstairs and take a shower. Once I did, I sat down in my room, not knowing what to do. I decided to put on a movie. But once I got to the DVD player to put a movie in, the doorbell rang. I looked up, puzzled. I slowly made my way downstairs. On my way, whoever was there kept ringing the doorbell. I walked more quickly to the door and yanked it open mid-ring.

Standing there was Justin, looking upset. I glared at him for a moment, and then began closing the door. His foot stopped it from closing all the way. I opened it again and looked at him. I suddenly had déjà-vu. This had happened with Nick. Once I was out of my shock, I closed the door again; harder this time. It closed all the way. I was about to turn away and make my way back upstairs when the doorbell rang again. I groaned loudly, meant for him to hear my annoyance and that I wanted him to leave. I opened the door again.

"What?" I asked in a harsh tone.

"Im sorry about last night."

I tried to act casual about it. "What about last night?"

"For leaving without you…"

"Even though you brought me there? Oh, don't worry. It's completely fine," I said sarcastically and harshly.

"Look, im sorry, okay? You don't have to act so harsh to me."

"Yes, I do. Who brings their girlfriend to a party filled with people she doesn't know, then completely ignores her?"

"Well im sorry. I didn't even know where you went."

"Because I didn't belong there, Justin! Most of the people there practically hated me right off the bat."

"Only because you were with me."

"So that makes it alright to leave me? By myself while all I got were glares?"

"Look, I just got upset when you went with Nick."

"You should know better than to let him get to you. That's your fault."

"Well-"

"Oh, and I heard you went home with Caitlin? The girl who hated me the first day that I came here? The one who was _all_ over you last night? Yeah, that's totally okay."

He was about to say something, but I slammed the door on his face. I ran back upstairs, ignoring the ringing doorbell and his muffled shouts. I went into my room, got my IPod, put on the headphones, and blasted the music up all the way to drown out all the sounds. I layed down in bed and got under the covers and pulled them over my head.

30 minutes later, I took out my headphones and was a little creeped out by the silence since I had been listening to music for so long and so loud. I got up and went downstairs. I texted Joanne to see if I could come over. She said I could, so I quickly put on shorts and a black v-neck. I went to the kitchen to grab a water bottle then went to the door. When I opened it, Justin fell at my feet. I guess he had been leaning against the door. He looked up at me, rubbing his head.

"What are you still doing here?" I asked.

"You didn't let me finish apologizing."

"And I don't want to. Because I really don't need to hear it. Look, I'll get over it eventually. Just give me some space, okay Justin? Can you do that?" I asked, feeling like I was talking to a little kid.

"You're not breaking up with me, are you?"

"No," I said, beginning to walk away.

He grabbed my hand and turned me around. "Please, just talk to me Leah. That's all im asking for."

I walked quicker towards Joanne's house, and pulled my hand away from his. I wasn't mad at him, to be honest. I just didn't want to talk to him right now. So I continued walking, but he followed me all the way to Joanne's door. I rang the doorbell and turned around to face Justin.

"Look, just give me space Justin. Please."

"But I want to make things up to you."

"You could do that by giving me space. Seriously Justin, im getting angry now."

He was about to say something, but Joanne opened the door. She looked at us with a puzzled expression.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing," I said.

I let myself in quickly as Joanne closed the door right behind me. I walked into her living room and she followed. I sat down on the couch, as did she.

"So what's going on with you too?"

"He's trying to apologize, but I don't want to hear it. Im not mad at him or anything. I just want some space and for him to get off my ass."

"Oh, come on. He's really trying to make it up to you. If you would've listened to him, you probably would've had a really great day together."

I thought for a while. "I know. But I still want some space."

"You are _so_ freaking stubborn."

I breathed out a laugh. "I've been told."

"Just go out there and talk to him. I guarantee he's still out there, leaning on my door right now."

"I know. He did that at my house."

Just then, Joanne's two brothers walked down the stairs and froze when they saw me. Joanne's older brother shrugged to himself and came over to give me a hug. After he did so, their little brother ran to me and gave me a hug also.

"Do you think she should go out there and talk to Justin, who is leaning against our door right now?" Joanne asked.

"Yeah, why not? He must be desperate if he's still here," said her older brother, Max.

I shot a confused look at Joanne. She said, "We always pull pranks on him."

"Ugh. Fine, I'll go out there. Talk to you guys later."

I trudged out of the room and opened the door. Sure enough, Justin fell over like he did at my house. I walked out and closed the door as he got back to his feet.

"I'll listen to what you have to say. So say it," I said.

His words came out in a rush. "Im so sorry. I didn't mean to leave you at the party, and I was just upset. And I know that's not a good excuse, but just know that's how I felt when you went with Nick. And the thing with Caitlin, I wasn't even really paying attention to her. I didn't want to leave with her. She kept complaining how she didn't have a ride and one of the guys came over and told me I should drive her home. Everyone was watching so I couldn't say no, and I didn't know where you were. I told her to give me 10 minutes to look for you, but you were nowhere! Im really sorry, Leah. Please, please forgive me."

I stared at him for moment. I sighed, giving up, and took his hand. I began walking towards his car. I let go and went to the passenger side as he unlocked the doors. I climbed in and he did the same. He looked at me, completely confused.

"What's going on?"

"Let's go to our meadow. We haven't been there in a long time."

He smiled, only a little bit though since he knew I was still a little upset. He began driving. I felt a sense of déjà-vu once again.

He turned on the radio, carefully took my hand, making sure to not upset me, and started singing. It just so happened that at that time, Ne-Yo's song Mad was playing. He smiled slightly at me and began singing. I looked down and smiled a little bit. This guy really had an effect on me.

He was driving faster than normal, so we got to the trail quicker. I stepped out of the car and began walking through the woods. He followed after me. After a minute or so, he caught up to me and took my hand. I leaned myself on him as we walked. We soon got to the meadow. I laughed and ran forward, spinning around. I fell to the ground and looked over at Justin. He was smiling and making his way towards me. When he was closer, I got up again and ran over to the creek and to the top of the hill across it. I waited for him to cross the creek before I ran forward and leaped into his arms.

His arms automatically wrapped around me. I wrapped my legs around his torso and kissed him passionately. He was in shock for a moment, because it took him a few seconds to respond. Once he did, I ran my fingers through his hair as his hand lightly trailed up my shirt. His tongue traveled along my bottom lip, asking for entrance. I slowly parted my lips. His tongue slipped into my mouth quickly and explored it. Before I knew it, he was on top of me, lying down on the grass. I pushed him closer to me. His hands had moved down from my back and he was now playing with the hem of my shorts.

I guess he knew things would go too far, just like I did, so slowly pulled away from me. We looked at each other sadly. We both weren't ready for this.

He gave me a quick kiss, then rolled off of me and lay down next to me instead. I snuggled closer to him and rested my head on his chest as he put his arms around me. I closed my eyes, feeling relaxed.

"I love you," Justin whispered.

I opened my eyes and looked at him, shocked.

"You… what?"

"I love you."

I was silent for a moment, completely speechless. I looked deep into his eyes and whispered back. "I love you, too."

"Do you really?"

"Yes, I really do. You're amazing, Justin, and I can't believe how close I've grown to you. I really, honestly do love you."

He leaned down and kissed me. "You don't know how happy I am to hear you say that."

"Actually, I don't. Why don't you show me?"

He grinned and quickly pressed his lips to mine.


	11. Chapter 11

"COME ON, JUMP IN! It's not cold!"

"IS IT DEEP?"

"Not really. I could carry you. COME ON! DON'T BE SCARED!"

I shook my head. "Im not going in!"

"You swam in the ocean with me, but you can't swim in a little creek?"

I blushed. "FINE."

I stripped down shirt and shorts. I slowly walked up to the edge and dipped my foot in. the water wasn't too cold, but it wasn't too warm either. I looked at Justin. He was staring at me in a daze, his jaw hanging slack. He was looking me up and down. I looked down and blushed. I took a few steps back and ran forward and jumped into the creek. Like he said, it wasn't too deep – maybe almost 6 feet. I reached the bottom of the creek and kicked myself back up to the surface. The second I came up, Justin's arms wrapped around me, carrying me so I didn't drown.

"See? No need to be scared…" he said.

I smiled at him. "Thanks."

"Anytime."

He leaned down and kissed me. After he pulled away, I bit down hard on my lip. I would always love his kisses. He looked into my eyes. He had suddenly turned serious.

"Do you want to come over tonight? Meet my parents?"

Worry washed through me. "What if they don't like me? What if I embarrass myself?"

"Leah, don't worry. If I love you, then they'll love you. Plus, you're amazing. Why would anybody not like you?"

"But what if I embarrass myself?"

He smiled. "You won't. I'll be there. So please, _don't worry._"

"Okay. I'll tell my mom later."

"Okay. Man, they'll love you! And you get to meet my little brother and sister."

I grinned at his enthusiasm. "Wait, can I go home first and change?"

"Of course. But we should probably go right now then."

With that, we both go out of the creek and put the rest of our clothes back on. Justin took my hand and we began walking towards the trail. Once we were in the car, I turned on the heater since it was a bit chilly. In what felt like no time, we were in front of my house.

"You're going in with me, right?"

"Of course."

We both got out of the car and began walking up the path to my door. I opened it and walked in as Justin closed the door behind me.

"MOM! IM HOME!"

"IM IN THE KITCHEN, SWEETIE!"

I took Justin's hand and walked into the kitchen. When we appeared in the doorway, my mother stopped unloading the groceries into the fridge.

"Well, hi there Justin. How are you?"

Justin held out his hand for my mother to shake and said, "Im good, ma'am. And you?"

"Oh, im great. Thanks for asking. So what's going on you two?"

I was about to speak, but Justin did it for me. "Would you mind if you're daughter spent the night at my house? I'd really like her to meet my parents."

My mother glanced between the two of us. "Are you all right with that, Leah?"

"Yeah, if its all right with you."

"Okay, go ahead if you want. What time will you be home tomorrow?"

"Do I have a curfew?"

"You could be home by 10 tomorrow night. But call me tomorrow when you wake up and tell me what's going on, okay?"

"Okay, mom. I'm gonna go upstairs and get my stuff ready."

I took hold of Justin's hand again and led him upstairs. When we reached my room, he casually went over to my bed and layed down. I went to my closet and picked out an outfit for tomorrow. After that, I went to my drawers to get some pajamas.

"You could just wear my clothes to sleep, you know. I bet you'd look sexy in them anyways," said Justin.

I blushed. "You sure?"

"Of course. I already texted my mom. She said you could sleep over."

"Okay then."

I went back to my closet and opened a drawer to get a bag for my stuff. I put my clothes into the bag then went to the bathroom to get my toothbrush. Once I was all packed, Justin carried my stuff downstairs. I walked into the kitchen to say goodbye.

"Bye, mom. We're leaving right now. I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Okay, bye sweetie! Remember to call me tomorrow!" she added as I walked towards the front door.

"Okay!" I called out, closing the door and walking to Justin's car. We both go in and he started the engine. I noticed that the time said it was 6.

"What time are you suppose to be home?" I asked.

He shrugged. "My parents don't care. As long as I tell them where I am and come home eventually."

"Oh…"

He looked over at me. "Babe, you don't have to be nervous. They'll love you. You make me happy, and they know that. But now they'll see it for themselves."

I smiled at him. "Alright."

A little too soon, we were at his house. I tried to act casual and calm – as if I've been over his house before. He opened the door for me, since I didn't move, and took my hand. I nervously stepped out of the car and up the pathway with him. We stopped when we got to his door, and I took in a deep breathe and squeezed his hand.

He chuckled. "Everything will be alright. There's nothing to worry about, Leah. How many times do I have to tell you that they'll love you?"

"Until I meet them and know for sure that they do."

He sighed and opened the door then led me inside. I looked around, shocked. His house was huge – and roomy. Suddenly, I heard laughter coming from the kitchen. I could tell it was his little brother and sister. I looked at him nervously, and he smiled at me. He laid my bag of clothes on the couch in the loving room then we made our way through the house and to the kitchen. My breathing sped up the closer we got. When we reached the kitchen, he stopped us at the doorway. His family was at the table while his mom was putting food on it.

"Mom…" Justin said to get her attention.

She turned around and smiled when she saw me. His mom was pretty. In fact, she was beautiful. She looked so young. I was expecting the usual handshake, so I was shocked when she came up to me and just gave me a hug. She hugged me tightly, and I hugged her back.

"Hi, sweetie. Im Pattie. It's so nice to meet you! You don't know how much Justin talks about you! Whenever he's home, that's all he does!"

"Mom…" Justin grunted, blushing.

I giggled. "Really?"

"Yes! You should hear him!"

"What does he say?"

"It's usually, 'I miss Leah,' or 'When am I going to see Leah again?' or 'Im going to talk to Leah, goodnight!' Usually that type of stuff."

I laughed and looked at Justin's face. He was completely red. I giggled and hugged him, trying to make him feel better as his mom smiled at us.

"Okay kids, come eat now."

She led us to the table. I sat down next to Justin and his little brother. Pattie had made some pasta, so I got a plate and grabbed some. While we were eating, Jackson, Justin's little brother, tapped my leg. I turned towards him.

"Yeah?"

"Your pwetty…"

"Aw, thank you. You're very cute," I said, grinning at him.

"No, im handsome."

I giggled. "Okay then, you are very handsome."

He smiled at me and held up his hand for a high five. I clapped my hand to his as he screamed "YAY!"

I thought everyone looked only when he screamed out, but I then realized that they had been staring at us the entire time because Justin was grinning hugely at me. I blushed and smiled slightly while looking down. After a few seconds, everything went back to normal so I looked up again. Justin had already finished eating, so he scooted closer and put his arm around me while I ate. When I finished, we all sat there for a while and talked.

"So Leah. Justin told me that you just moved here?"

"Oh yeah. I came here from San Francisco. My mom got a new job so we had to move out here."

"Well, that's good. I also heard that you have two brothers?"

"Yup. Their both older. And they have a big group of friends and they're like brothers to me also."

"That's good. It's always good to have a lot of family members."

"Yeah, im real thankful to have them."

Justin yawned – well, he faked yawning. I could easily tell, and I think his parents did too because they gave him a scornful look. He brushed them off.

"Well it's getting late. I think it's time to get to bed. Goodnight mom and thank you."

"Don't forget, we're leaving in 10 minutes! Are you guys going to be okay?"

"Yeah mom. Don't worry."

He got up and gave his mom a kiss on the cheek and did a handshake with his dad. I followed after him, but instead gave both his parents a hug. He took my hand and led me upstairs. I waved to Jazzy and Jackson on our way up the stairs and they waved back at me. Jazzy even blew me a kiss and I smiled at her when she did. Justin suddenly stopped at a certain door in the hallway.

"What?" I asked.

He smiled. "Ready to see my room?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay, close your eyes…"

I obeyed him. He went behind me and covered my eyes and told me to walk forward. So I walked forward and then he stopped me. He his hands slowly slid down to my waist. I bit down on my lip when he did. Suddenly, he was pulling my hair back and his breath was on my neck. He lightly kissed my neck. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back.

"Open your eyes," he whispered in my ear.

When I opened my eyes, I gasped. His room was huge, just like his house. (.?pid=9056 like this but way bigger/roomier)

I turned around and smiled at him.

"I get to stay here tonight? It's like a hotel room!"

He chuckled and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me closer to him. "Of course you do. You're my queen, so you should be treated like one. It was a mess in here until I came up with the idea the other day. So I cleaned it. You couldn't even see the floor back then."

"You planned this?"

He shrugged. "I thought about it. But I was too scared to ask then. I was afraid you'd say no or something. But today at the meadow was perfect."

I smiled and bit my lip. He slowly leaned down and kissed me passionately, like I did to him at the meadow. I smiled through the kiss and I could feel him smile too. I pulled away.

"Can I change?" I asked.

He smiled. "Of course."

He went over to his drawer and looked around for a shirt. He pulled out a plain white shirt and handed it to me. Next, he began looking for some shorts.

"Justin, do you mind if I just sleep in this shirt and my underwear? It's really hot so…"

He stared at me in shock for a moment before he spoke. "Of-f course you can."

I looked down, blushing. "Okay…"

I began walking to his bathroom, still looking down. When I closed the door I sighed. I felt so embarrassed, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight if I wore shorts. It really was hot. So I slowly stripped down everything but my underwear and put on the shirt Justin had given me. Then I gathered my things and walked back into the room. Justin had off his pants so that he was in his boxers and shirt. I froze, completely speechless and in awe. I don't know why I reacted like this. I've seen him shirtless before, so why was it a problem when he was in boxers and a shirt? He stood there, looking me up and down just as I was doing to him. I could feel the blood running to my cheeks. I instantly looked down, blushing.

"Um, where do I put my things?"

He replied nervously. "Oh, um, I brought your stuff up so you could put it in your bag if you want. It's uh, right there behind you."

"Oh, okay."

I turned around and my bag was there, just like he said. I was putting my clothes into my bag when Justin's hands were suddenly on my waist and his breath was on my neck again. His lips gently brushed against my skin.

"Want to watch a movie?" he murmured against my neck.

"Sure."

He took hold of my hand led me to his bed. He pulled the blankets back and gestured for me to get in first. I shyly got into his bed and under the covers with him following right after me. He put his arm around me as I put my head on his chest.

He kissed the top of my head and said, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

He put his finger under my chin, making me look at him. He pulled my face close to his and kissed me passionately once again. I kissed him back automatically as his hand went under my shirt and trailed up my back. His touch made me shiver just like last time. I ran my hands through his hair, which caused him to lightly push me back and get on top of me. Surprisingly, I was glad when he did this and I smiled through the kiss. My lips slightly parted and Justin's tongue slipped through and explored my mouth once again. A moan escaped his lips, and I smiled when I felt him go hard. He put more pressure onto my body and I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him closer to me.

We stayed like that for a while. I couldn't pull myself away from him. I felt like I needed him, and I could tell that he felt the same way. Suddenly, he tore his lips away from mine. He began kissing my jaw line. He worked his way down to my collarbone, then made his way back up to my jaw line and repeated it all over again. The third time around, I moaned. He realized he found my sweet spot and his lips lingered there. He lightly kissed it then began sucking on it. I moaned a little louder when he did that. I closed my eyes and rolled my head back. His lips met mine again and I clung my hands to his hair, pulling him closer to me once more. I just couldn't get enough of him. Suddenly, he pulled away from me.

"Im sorry… I got carried away," he said.

"It's okay."

He rolled off me and lay down next to me. He was about to put his arm around me but I rolled on top of him and pressed my lips to his. I licked his bottom lip, asking for entrance. He let me in, and I explored his mouth this time. I felt his hands going up my shirt again and rubbing my back. He moaned into the kiss, and I felt that he was still hard from earlier. I smiled again. I pulled away suddenly and got off of him and lay down next to him. He stared at me in shock and disbelief. I smiled at him sheepishly.

"What?" I asked.

He gulped. "Nothing."

I blushed. He scooted closer to me and gave me a short kiss this time. I kissed him back and pushed myself on him completely. He pulled away and put his arms around me. He kissed the top of my head once again.

"I love you. So much."

"I love you too Justin."

"What do you want to do tomorrow?"

"Can we stay here? Just sleep in and do whatever. I don't really feel like going out tomorrow."

"Anything you want."

I smiled. "Okay."

We layed there in silence for a while. Justin played with pieces of my hair while I lightly traced designs with my finger on Justin's stomach.

"Leah?"

"Yes?"

"Have you ever…you know…done it with someone?"

I blushed. "No."

"Have you ever come close to it?"

"Yes…"

"Oh…"

I looked at him. "It was different with him. We were in a long distant relationship. So we got a little carried away when we saw each other sometimes."

"Do you think I'll be the one you do it with?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

He looked down. "Okay…"

"What's wrong?"

"It's just that…I want you to be the girl I lose my virginity to. I love you. I've never fallen for a girl this quick. _Ever_. I never thought I would either."

"Well maybe we will someday. We just have to wait. Okay?"

He smiled. "Okay."

I leaned up and gave him a quick kiss then rested my head back on his chest. He began singing. I didn't recognize the song.

"What song is that?"

"I wrote it. Just listen."

So I did. It was beautiful. I tried to concentrate on the words, but the sound of his voice was so beautiful. I felt myself falling asleep, so I soon knocked out.

It was bright when I woke up. I squinted and let my eyes adjust to light then rubbed them. It let out a yawn and began to stretch. As I was stretching, I realized that someone was holding. In complete shock, I looked to see who it was. I instantly relaxed when I realized it was only Justin. I looked up at him and saw him staring at me with loving eyes. I blushed.

"How long have you been awake?"

He shrugged. "Probably about 30 minutes. Not long. Why?"

"Just wondering."

"So what do you want to do today? We have the house to ourselves. My parents and them spent the night at my cousins house."

"Hmm, I don't know. What do you want to do?"

"Anything as long as it's with you."

"Anything?"

"Yes."

"Wanna wrestle?"

"What?"

"Wrestle."

"You…want to…wrestle?"

"Yup."

He smiled. "Okay then."

I got out of bed, pulling him with me. I ran down the stairs and into his living room. Thankfully, there weren't any vases or anything in there, and it was pretty roomy, so all we had to do was move the couches a little. We put the cushions on some of the walls, just in case. I stood on one side of the room and him on the other.

"Okay. 1, 2, 3… GO!"

We ran towards each other and began wrestling. This continued for the next hour or so. Most rounds, he won - of course. The times I won were probably because he let me. But most of the time he would pin me down and win.

"Okay, im done," I managed to say while laughing.

He got off of me and picked me up. He threw me over his shoulder and began walking up the stairs.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"RELAX!" he screamed as he slapped my butt.

He made his way to his room and spun me around a little bit.

"P-PUT ME…DOW-WN!" I managed to say in between laughs.

He playfully threw me down on his bed. I thought that was it, but he got on top of me and brought both of my hands above my head, pinning me down like when we were wrestling. He leaned down and whispered right into my ear.

"I love you."

I was about to respond, but he began to kiss my jaw line. He made his way down my neck then back up again. My breathing got heavy and his lips met mine. He deepened the kiss. His hands were still on my wrists, keeping me pinned down. I tried to move them but it was no use. I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him closer to me. Just like I knew he would, he released my wrists and brought his hands down to my waist.

As I was just thinking of pulling away, my phone began ringing. I tore my lips from his and was about to get up, but he just continued to kiss along my jaw line and down my neck.

"Justin, it might be my mom."

"Call her back later," he murmured against my skin.

I giggled and lightly pushed him off of me. He playfully frowned at me as I walked away and stuck my tongue out at him. I got to where my phone was and answered it.

"Hello?"

"GIRL, what are you doing today?"

"Well, im at Justin's house. We planned on staying home all day. Why?"

"There's a party going on at about 4. You guys want to come?"

I looked over at Justin. "Want to go to a party later? Joanne said it starts at 4."

"Whose is it?"

"Joanne, whose party is it?"

"Nathan's."

"She said Nathan's," I told Justin.

He shrugged. "I'll go if you want to."

I talked to Joanne again. "Um, we'll see. I'll let you know if we go, okay?"

"Alright. Bye."

I hung up and put my phone back down. I jumped on the bed and right into Justin's arms.

"So are we going later?" I asked.

"I told you I'd go only if you wanted."

"Do you think there'll be trouble or anything? I don't want to go if there's trouble…"

"How about we just stay home then? Its summer. There'll be more parties. And I want to spend an entire day with you, no interruptions."

I smiled. "Okay. We'll stay here then."

"Thank you. How about we spend the day in bed? Let's get some food and put on a movie."

"Only if you don't get distracted…"

He frowned. "Do you know how sexy you are? Especially when you're wearing _just_ that."

I blushed. "Well do you want me to put something else on?"

"NO! I mean…you look fine like that. It's okay."

I rolled my eyes. "So what do you want to watch?"

He bit his lip then smiled. "What about a Nicholas Sparks movie day?"

"Which one?"

"The Notebook."

"Do you have it?"

"Yup. Here, I'll go get it. I think it's in my moms' room."

He got up and left to go find the DVD. I fell back and layed down on the bed. I got under the covers and got comfortable. I really loved today. It was going great so far. I told myself that Justin and I were going to have more days like this. It was so relaxing. I sighed and closed my eyes, snuggling deeper into the blankets. A few minutes later I felt two arms wrap around me.

"Are you tired?"

I opened my eyes and turned to smile at him. "Nope. Only waiting for you."

He gave me a kiss. "Well, im here now. Let's start the movie."

He got up and put the DVD into the player. Once the previews were starting, he grabbed the remote and layed down next to me under the covers, putting his arms around me. When it got to the menu he pressed play and the movie started.

"This is my favorite love story you know," he said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Do you have one?"

"A few."

"What's one?"

"50 First Dates."

"We'll watch it sometime."

He kissed the top of my head and we focused back on the movie.


	12. Chapter 12

"Are you crying?"

"Yes," I said, smacking him on the chest.

He smiled crookedly. "Why? Movie too sad for you?"

"Yeah. I always cry at this movie. And don't act like you weren't crying earlier."

"I was. I won't deny it."

I giggled. I was about to kiss him, but I jumped at the sound of my ringtone. I suddenly remembered that I was suppose to call my mom. I got up and ran to the phone, picking it up before I missed the call.

"Hello?"

"What have you been doing all day? Why didn't you call?"

"Sorry mom. I forgot. We just stayed here at Justin's house all day and watched movies."

"Well you need to get home. Now."

"All right. I'll be there soon."

I hung up and looked at Justin. "I have to go."

He groaned and lay still for a moment. He then lazily got up and made his way towards me and cupped my face. He leaned down and slowly and lightly kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his torso as he deepened the kiss.

"Do you really have to go?" he murmured against my lips.

"Mhm."

He groaned and pressed his lips against mine again. After a while he finally pulled away and sighed. He pulled me into a tight hug and rested his head on top of mine.

"Did she say you have to leave right now?"

"Yes."

I pulled away and kissed him quickly then went to gather my stuff. Once I did we both walked down stairs and I into his car. I didn't change because I was going to shower and change at home. In a few minutes we were outside my house. He kissed me before I got out.

"I'll see you soon," he said before driving away.

"What do you mean?"

He winked. "You'll see."

With that he drove away. I walked to my door still confused as to what he meant.

"Mom, im home!" I called out.

I walked to the kitchen and greeted my mom and step dad.

"Hey, where have you been all day?" asked my step dad.

"At Justin's house. We just stayed home and watched movies."

"What did you two watch?" my mom asked.

"Lovey-dovey stuff."

"Oh, I see."

"Yup. Well im gonna go upstairs and change then go to bed. Goodnight."

"You don't want anything to eat?"

"Nah, I ate some stuff while I was there."

"Well okay then. Goodnight."

I went upstairs and took a shower then changed into a different set of pajamas. I was debating whether or not to blow dry my hair or just go straight to bed. I decided to blow dry my hair, so I did. When I was done I went to my bed, laid down, and texted back to the texts I ignored earlier. I did that for about 30 minutes, talking to my old my friends, before I heard something hitting my window. I stopped texting and stared at the window to realize that someone was throwing pebbles. I got up and looked outside.

"Leah!" someone loudly whispered.

"Who's there?" I whispered back.

"It's Justin!"

"What? What are you doing here?"

"Come downstairs!"

"Why?"

"Let's go somewhere! Let's get out of here."

"Where?"

"Anywhere!"

"Fine, wait!"

Since I was already wearing a tank top, I just quickly changed into different shorts and put on a crewneck. I closed my window and quietly made my way downstairs. I left a little note in the kitchen saying that I went out, just in case my parents woke up early. Then I quietly opened and the closed the door and ran into Justin's arms. He kissed me.

"So where are we going, my queen?"

"Anywhere."

"All right. Let's go."

He opened the door for me then went to his side and started the car. He started driving.

"The beach or the meadow?" he asked.

"The beach."

"Our usual spot?"

"Yup," I said smiling.

He took my hand and continued driving. I leaned back and stared at him as he began to lightly sing. Once again, it was one of his originals.

"You know, you should really consider a career in singing."

"Nah. Not really my thing. I like singing for fun, not money or fame."

I smiled at him. "I see what you mean."

"Yeah."

Once we arrived at the beach he parked the car and got out. He went to the trunk to get two blankets before opening my door. I offered to help him hold one of the blankets but he only smiled and took my hand as we walked on the sand. He stopped and laid down one of the blankets. He sat down, pulling me along with im so that I was sitting in between his legs. I leaned back against his chest and closed my eyes as he put the second blanket over us. I felt peaceful.

"I'm going to marry you someday," he murmured against my head.

"You really want to?"

"Yup. We're gonna have a family, a home, and great jobs. We'll even have a dog," he added, laughing.

"Can it be a husky?"

"Of course."

"All right then."

"Where do you want to live?"

"Somewhere close to family. But my family is all spread out. And I always dreamed of moving to New York."

"Why?"

"I just love being in the city. What about you?"

"Wherever you are is my home."

I smiled. "Even a cave?" I asked jokingly.

"Yes, even in a cave. Even in the middle of the forest if that's what you want."

I laughed. "All right. That's settled. We'll live in the middle of the forest and find a cave."

"Okay, deal. We'll stay there for the rest of our lives."

"Can it be a forest in Hawaii or something? Other forests are kind of… icky."

"Yeah. We'll live with all of the islanders."

"Hm. Such a beautiful future, don't you think?"

"The best I could ask for."

I twisted around so that I was facing him and kissed him.

"I love you," he whispered, looking into my eyes.

"I love you too."

He chuckled. "You know, this is where I asked you to be my girlfriend?"

"Really?" I asked, looking around.

"Yeah. Call me a weirdo, but I remembered."

"Well then this should be our second place. The meadow is first, of course."

He smiled. "Alright."

I turned back around to stare at the water and leaned against him. He wrapped his arms around my chest and kissed my cheek.

"Are you tired?"

"Not really. We spent all day in bed after all."

"True."

We stayed silent for a while, just enjoying each other's company. I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of the waves and the wind. The breeze felt good, and Justin was quietly singing in my ear. Far away, I could hear a bunch of people, which meant there was probably a party or a bonfire. Strangely, I liked the sound. Everything felt so perfect.

"Are you sleeping?" Justin whispered.

"Yes," I muttered.

He chuckled. "Come on, sleepy. Let's lay down."

I groaned as I leaned forward and away from him. He scooted back and patted the space next to him, motioning for me to lay down next to him. I went next to him and laid on my back to stare at the stars.

"The stars are so beautiful," I whispered.

"Nothing compared to you though," he muttered.

I looked at him and saw that he was staring at me. "Really?"

"Yes. The stars look like spots of dirt compared to you."

"Thank you."

"Your welcome."

He turned so that he was lying on his side to face me. He gently brushed my cheek. I turned so that I was on my side also. He leaned in and lightly kissed me.

"Since we're sleeping here tonight, can you set an alarm? My mom will probably kill me if im not home in the morning, even though I left a note just in case."

He did as I said. While he was doing this I cuddled closer to him and he put his arm around me. He gently stroked my hair and began singing. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

I woke up to Justin lightly shaking me. "Babe, get up. Come on. We have to get you home soon."

"Im tired."

"Well it's about to be sunrise. Wanna watch it with me?"

I lazily opened my eyes and saw that it was still dark. "What time is it?"

"5:25. Sunrise is usually in ten minutes."

"All right."

Since he was already sitting up, I sat in between his legs again. I brought the blanket with me and fixed so it covered the both of us. We sat in silence, waiting for sunrise. Finally, I could see some light. He placed his hands over mine and intertwined our fingers. He lightly kissed my neck as the sun rised. It so was so beautiful. I felt happy to share this moment with him.

We sat there for about 30 more minutes then decided it was time to go. We were silent most of the ride home, just enjoying each other being there.

When we were in front of my house, he said, "Wanna go to a picnic later? Around 11? I forgot to tell you."

"Sure. With who?"

"My family. All of them. It's about an hour away from here."

"Okay, I'll ask and tell you later."

"Okay."

I quickly kissed him before I went inside. Thankfully, no one was awake so I went straight to my room and took a shower. I was still a little tired so I took a quick nap. When I woke up I went straight to my moms' room. It was empty. I went downstairs to check the kitchen, but I saw her in the backyard from the window. I went outside and sat next to her at the pool.

"Good morning," she said.

"Morning."

"You look like you've been out all night…"

I looked at her. "What?"

"Your note."

Shit, I forgot. "Oh, yeah."

"Where did you go?"

"I went to the beach with Justin to watch the sunrise."

"He picked you up? When?"

I shrugged. "About an hour after I got home."

"Wow. You guys are inseparable, huh?"

"I guess. That reminds me, can I go out later? He invited me a picnic with his family."

"Really now?"

"Yup."

"All right. Is his mom picking you up or just him?"

"I think just him."

"Okay. What time?"

"He said 11."

"Well you better get ready. It's 10:30, and you know how you get."

"All right. Thanks mom."

"No problem."

I kissed her on the cheek quickly and went up to my room to get ready. I texted Justin saying I could go. He said he would pick me up at exactly 11. So I straightened my hair, changed into shorts, put on a floral short, and a cardigan. I grabbed a handbag and put my phone, IPod, and camera in there. When Justin called and said he was outside I put on a pair of sunglasses then told my mom goodbye.

When I went outside it was only Justin, just like I predicted. I got in the car.

"Where's your mom and dad?" I asked after he kissed me.

"Already there. We have to pick Jazmyn and Jaxon up from their babysitter. Then we'll go."

"All right. How long are we going to be there?"

He shrugged. "Probably late. There's a party at my cousin's house after. And trust me, you wanna go. Their house is _huge._"

"Okay."

"By the way, you look beautiful. Well you always do, but I just thought I'd tell you."

I blushed. "Thanks. You look pretty handsome yourself."

"Oh, I know," he said playfully.

"So how many people are gonna be there?"

"I don't know. Maybe about 60? We reserved the whole park since I've got a pretty big family. I guess it's like a family reunion. But we do this every few months. Most of them are little kids though."

"Okay."

"Why?"

"Im kind of nervous."

"About what?"

"What if your family doesn't like me?"

He took my hand. "They'll love you. If I love you, they'll love you. That's how it goes in our family."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," he said squeezing my hand reassuringly.

He suddenly stopped at a house and I remembered that we were picking up his brother and sister.

"I'll be right back," he said.

He got out and went into the house. About a minute later he came out carrying Jazmyn and holding Jaxon's hand. I smiled as they walked towards me. Justin was great with them. In fact, he was great with kids in general. And I absolutely loved that about him.

I stepped out of the car to help him buckle Jazzy and Jaxon in. As I was buckling in Jaxon, he kissed me on the cheek. I looked at Justin and saw that he was grinning hugely at me.

"Oh, he told me not to tell you, but Jaxon here has a big crush on you."

I turned to Jaxon. "Really now?"

He nodded. I giggled and lightly kissed him on the cheek before going back to my seat. During the ride there, we were all laughing and making jokes. It just made things more amazing to see how Justin was with Jazzy and Jaxon.

When we got to the park I helped Justin get Jazzy and Jaxon out. As soon as they stepped out the car they ran away towards the rest of his family. I giggled and smiled after them. Suddenly, Justin grabbed my hands.

"You ready?"

I looked at him and smiled. "Yes."

I was surprised by the truth of my words. I had been nervous meeting his parents, but everything turned out fine, just like he said. So I knew there was probably nothing to worry about. Just as long as he was with me, it would all be okay.

We started walking to his family. He squeezed my hand tightly, reassuring me.

Everything went okay. He introduced me to all of his family. I smiled and shook their hands, but most of them gave me hugs. Everybody was nice to me. Like he said, there were a lot of little kids. But there were a few of his cousins that were around our age. His uncles and aunties were offering me food left and right. I gladly took some along with Justin. When we got all the food we needed, I was about to sit down, but he took my hands and began walking to a different table.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"I want you to meet somebody."

We continued walking a few more yards before we reached a table. There was an elderly couple sitting down with Jazzy and Jaxon.

"Leah, this is my grandma and grandpa. Grandma, Grandpa, this is my beautiful girlfriend, Leah."

"Hi," I said, kindly shaking their hands.

Justin sat down and pulled me along with him. His grandparents were smiling hugely at me.

"So, how long have you known each other?"

"Almost a month," Justin answered.

"Really? How did you guys meet?" she asked, asking me now.

"Well, I just moved here and one of my neighbors came over to help out with the unpacking. Then she took me out to meet her friends and I met Justin."

"Who was it?"

"It was Joanne. You remember, don't you Gran? She's Ryan's girlfriend."

"YO, JUSTIN!"

We all turned to where the noise came from. It turned out it was Justin's uncle. He excused himself from the table quickly and went to greet him. I turned back around and continued eating.

"You know, you must be really special to Justin. He's never brought a girl to meet the family. Especially our family picnic."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We told all the kids to never bring someone over unless they're really special."

"Well, he's special to me too. He's met my brothers and their friends. He also met my best friends. They came up here for about a week."

"That's nice. Well, Justin's a great kid you know."

"I know. He's really sweet. I love that about him."

His grandpa grinned. "That's how we raised him."

"Yeah, you guys did a good job at that. He told me about always spending time with you guys. He loves you guys so much."

"He better," she said laughing.

Justin returned and we finished eating. Jazzy asked me to take her to the swings, so I did. I happily ran around with her and pushed her on the swing. After a while, Justin joined us with Jaxon. We all ran around together and played.

Eventually, the two kids got tired of us and went to play with someone else. As I subconsciously walked after them, my feet suddenly left the ground. I screamed and laughed as Justin spun me around. I laid my head back, enjoying this moment.

Suddenly, I was on the floor, with Justin on top of me. We were both laughing hysterically. He rolled off of me, but his hands were on my waist so that I rolled on top of him. I quickly kissed him and rolled off, but he rolled on top of me again. And it went on like that for a few minutes – rolling on top of each other. We kept laughing, until I suddenly rolled into a little girls' leg and she fell down on top of us.

We quickly untangled ourselves and got the little girl up and safe. As she ran away, Justin and I began laughing again.

By about 4:30, everybody helped pack up the food. It was time to leave to his cousin's house for the party. Jazzy and Jaxon rode with his parents, we it was just Justin and I in the car. He took my hand and intertwined our fingers.

"Today was great. Thank you so much for bringing me."

"It only made it better that you were there."

"You know, I love your family. They're so nice."

"I know."

I bit down on my lip. "I love you."

He looked at me and raised his eyebrows. "I love you too."

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing. It was just… out of the blue."

"Well, now you know how I feel," I said while giggling.

He laughed. We started driving up a path, and he turned onto a street in a rich looking neighborhood. He pulled up to a big house; but then again, all the houses were big.

People watched the huge television in the living room. Others roamed outside, drinking a beer or two. Some people had even jumped in the pool. Little kids ran around all over the place. The owners of the house also had games all over, and I mean the arcade games. It was like they stole them brand new from the arcade. Each of them was taken, so I didn't get to play one.

While Justin was playing pool with his uncles, his cousin Kevin hung out with me. He was only a year older than Justin and I. He was also easy to talk to, so I didn't feel awkward talking to him like I did with his other cousins.

"So, how did you and Justin meet?"

"I just moved here a few weeks ago. My friend that lives down the street introduced me to him."

"Really? Well, that's nice. How long have you guys been together?"

"Almost a month."

He nodded to himself. "Cool. Has he met your family?"

"Yup. My two brothers live back in California, but they came with a few friends and visited."

"They brought they're friends?"

"Yeah. Im pretty close with their friends. They're like older brothers to me, also."

Justin came over to us and sat down next to me, intertwining our fingers.

"What you guys talking about?"

"You," Kevin and I answered in unison. We looked at each other and laughed while Justin stared at us oddly.

"Okay," Justin said slowly. "Well, we're gonna leave soon, all right?"

"Sure. What time?"

"About 30 minutes."

"Okay."

He quickly gave me a kiss and went to hang out with some other family members. Kevin and I talked a little bit more, but after a while I got up, going to play with his little cousins. Kevin followed me, helping me I guessed. He stayed very close to me for the next thirty minutes.

Justin unexpectedly picked me up from behind and carried me outside.

"What are you doing?" I asked, laughing.

"It's time to go." I noticed that his tone was serious.

"You don't need to carry me."

He didn't reply. He continued walking to his car then put me down when we got there.

"What about Jazzy and Jaxon?"

"They're riding with my parents."

He got in the car, so I copied. He started the engine and sped out the driveway quickly.

"What's wrong, Justin?"

He was quiet for a moment, then pounded on the steering wheel. "Kevin."

"What about him?"

"What, you didn't notice him checking you out and flirting with you?"

"No, I didn't."

"Well, he was. I don't understand why everyone tries to take my girlfriend's away from me!"

"He's done this before?"

"Yeah," he said curtly. "That's why I never bring my girlfriends to meet my family. I brought you because I love you. But I didn't think about him."

"Well, im sorry. I didn't notice."

"Its alright," he muttered.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Im not mad at you. Im mad at him."

I placed my hand in his. "Well don't be. Nothing happened."

He relaxed his shoulders no longer tense.

He turned on the radio, and sang along proudly to the song. I smiled and laughed at him, happy that he was happy. That was all I wanted.

The song ended. "Do you have to go home?"

"Yes, why?"

"I wanted to spend more time with you."

"I guess we could go to our meadow for a while. I'll just tell my mom that the party was longer then expected."

He grinned. "Okay."

As we walked past the trail and to the meadow, I felt a little creeped out. Walking through the woods late at night was creepy. I know I've done it before, but Justin and I were quiet as we walked this time.

We crossed the creek and sat at the edge of the hill, looking down on the city. I was still amazed by the wonderful view.

"You know, you did great today. My family really liked you. They told me themselves."

"Really?"

"Yeah. They said to bring you again next time."

"I'd be glad to. Your family is great."

"Yeah, they are."

I leaned my head on his shoulder. He put his hand under my chin, making me look at him. He kissed me lightly and slowly. I deepened the kiss. He leaned more into me, gently pushing me onto the grass. He carefully climbed on top of me, his hands on my waist. I locked my fingers into his hair, pulling him closer to me. His tongue swiped my lips; I parted my mouth and our tongues intertwined.

I felt sparks, like I always did. My mind wandered off, leaving my head spinning. I didn't pay attention to what was happening, but when I did, Justin was shirtless and he was pressed gently against me. I smiled into the kiss, loving the feeling of him so close.

His lips left mine, giving me a chance to breathe. He kissed my jaw line and continued down my neck.

"Justin…"

"Hmm?"

"Stop. You know we can't do this," I whispered.

He looked at me sadly then rested his head on my chest.

"I know…" he muttered.

I stroked his hair softly. "Im sorry."

"It's alright. I don't think im fully ready yet, either. But I just wanna do it already, you know?"

"Yeah…"

"I love you, though, no matter what," he said quietly, lifting his head up to look me in the eye.

I continued playing with his hair. "I love you, too."

"Should we go now?"

I nodded. He sighed and slowly got off me, then held his hand out to help me up. He put his shirt back on. When we got in the car, he turned the heater on. I felt warm instantly.

"So, what do you wanna do tomorrow?" he asked.

"I don't know. Let's hang out with Joanne and Ryan and them. We haven't seen them in forever."

He smiled. "Will do. How about the beach? Just our group of friends. It'll be nice."

"Yeah, it will."

"Just tell Joanne. I'll tell Ryan and the other guys. Joanne could bring some of the girls that you haven't met yet."

"What if they don't like me?"

He took his eyes off the road and looked at me. "They will. They hang out with us. They're not like the other girls at that party. I promise."

"Alright."

"Plus, they're not the jealous type. They won't hate you because you're with me."

I looked into his eyes and found no doubt, so I believed him. He intertwined our fingers and leaned his head back against the seat. He looked exhausted.

"I could drive if you want. You look tired."

"No, it's all right."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

I quickly kissed his cheek when he dropped me off and went inside. It was late, so I thought my parents would have been sleeping. But I noticed the kitchen light on and heard them talking, so I went to talk to them.

"Hey guys. Why are you still up?" I asked.

"Oh, hi sweetie. How was your day?" my mom asked.

"Good. I had fun. Justin's family is really nice."

"Well that's good."

"So, why are you guys up so late?"

My mom held up an envelope. I walked over to her and grabbed it. when I opened it, I took out one airline ticket.

"What's this?" I asked.

"You can go visit San Francisco. Your dad sent the ticket. He misses you already."

"For how long?"

"Well, he wanted you to stay the rest of the summer. But I told him about Justin. So, you can back whenever. And use the tickets whenever."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Can you remind me to call him in the morning? Im too tired to call him right now."

"Sure, sweetie. Go get some sleep."

"Goodnight."

I ran up the stairs and into my room, still holding the airline tickets. I grabbed my phone and called Jacob.

"Hello?"

"Hey! Wow. I just realized I haven't talked to you in days."

"I was gonna call you but I didn't know if you were busy."

"I have been busy. Anyways, guess what?"

"What?"

"My dad sent me airline tickets to visit! Whenever I want and as long as I want!"

"REALY? Don't like to me, Leah."

"YES REALLY! Im so excited! But when am I gonna go there? And how long?"

"Stay the whole summer! And get here as soon as possible!"

"Jacob, I have Justin to worry about, remember?"

"Oh, boohoo. Who cares? You'll see him everyday for the whole school year. You won't see me at all! And im not used to that. Im still getting used to it."

"I know. I miss you so much! And everybody else there. I'll probably be there in like a week."

"YES! Make it as soon as possible! PLEASE!"

I laughed. "Okay, I promise I'll be there on later than a week. I still have to talk about it with Justin."

"Seriously, who cares? Just come down here! Well, I guess you're tired. So goodnight."

"Goodnight." I frowned as the line went dead. Why had he hung up so suddenly?

I called Kj.

"LEAH! WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN? You don't reply to my texts, or answer my calls. What the hell has been going on?"

"Im sorry. I've been kind of busy. Anyways, I have good news."

"What is it?" he grumbled, still upset that I hadn't talked to him in so long.

"My dad sent me airline tickets. I can go down there whenever I want for as long as I want. Well, I mean all summer."

"WHAT? YES! YOU'RE COMING DOWN HERE! FOR THE WHOLE SUMMER! Well, what are you doing still talking to me? Call the airport and find the next flight over here!"

"WAIT. I've got to talk to Justin first. Plus, I still have to pack and think things through. And-"

"What the hell is there to think through? Everyone you love is down here! And we all miss you like crazy. You've gotta hurry and come down here, Leah! Im practically going crazy."

"I know. Don't worry, I promise to be there in no later than a week. Okay?"

"NO, not okay. Be here no less than 3 days. Please?"

"I'll have to see, Kj."

"C'mon Leah. You only have the summer to be with us. Please? We won't see you probably until Christmas or something. Please?"

He continued to please. "Fine. Im not sure how long I'll stay down there, though."

"Stay the whole summer! Is there honestly a problem with that?"

"Yes. I have a boyfriend here, Kj. Am I suppose to just leave him for 2 months when I've barely spent a month with him?"

"Yes," he said as if it was the most obvious answer.

"Kj. I really like this guy, okay? And he really likes me."

"I know, I know. But still, you'll see him more than you'll see us. Aren't we more important down here?"

"Yes… look, I'll call you again tomorrow or something, all right? Im exhausted. It's like 1 in the morning here, and I had a long day."

"Alright, alright. Goodnight best. Love you."

"I love you too. Goodnight."

I had quickly changed while I was on the phone with Kj, so I slipped into bed and snuggled into the blankets. I thought about how I would tell Justin, already picturing his disappointed face. I soon fell asleep.

When my mom knocked on my door, it was bright as could be in my room. She smiled apologetically at me and put a tray of food on my bedside table.

"Im off today, so I thought I'd make you breakfast. Oh, and don't forget to call your dad."

I moaned and threw the blankets over my head. It was too sunny in here and my eyes hadn't adjusted.

"Thanks mom," I muttered.

"C'mon sweetie. It's already 11. you need to get up or you'll get lazy."

I took her advice and threw the covers off me. I sat up and put the tray on my lap. She had cooked my favorite – chocolate chip pancakes. I smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

"Thanks mom. Where's Steven?"

"He's here too. He called in sick since I don't get many days off."

"Oh." I took a bite of my pancakes. "I called Jacob and Kj last night. I told them about the tickets. They sure want me down there."

"Well, how long are you gonna stay there?"

I shrugged and sipped my orange juice. "Im considering the whole summer. But what about Justin, mom? What am I gonna tell him?"

"Honey, that's your choice." She scooted onto my bed and lay next to me, watching the TV. "Ask him to go with you if you really don't wanna leave him."

"I don't know if I want him to come with me, mom. But I also don't wanna see him all sad when I tell him. So what do I do?"

She put her arm around me as I took another bite and rubbed my arm reassuringly.

"Just tell him. And see how he handles it. Then milk it from there."

"Right. Well, im gonna hang out with him later so I'll tell him then."

"What are you guys gonna do?"

I shrugged. "The beach. We're gonna meet up with some other people."

"Alright."

I soon finished my food. My mother took the tray and got up, going downstairs. I lay down for a moment, staring at the ceiling. I finally got the strength to get up and take a shower. I called Justin afterwards.

"Hello beautiful," he said.

"Hello. What time are you gonna pick me up."

"I'll be there in an 30 minutes? I think the other are already there. Its only us and few other people that need to show up. Are you ready?"

"I'll be ready by then. Just call me when you're here."

"Okay."

"Wait, should I wear a bathing suit under?"

"Yeah. It's hot, so we'll probably be swimming."

"Okay. Well, see you later."

"Bye."

I picked out a bathing suit, then threw on some shorts and a crop top. I quickly put on sun block and grabbed a bag to put clothes and my other things in. soon enough, the doorbell rang. I ran downstairs, swiftly telling my mom and step dad goodbye, then ran out the door and into Justin's car.

"Hello love."

"Hi." I quickly kissed him on the cheek and put on my seat belt. He intertwined our fingers subconsciously, and I could tell he felt just as I did – happy.


End file.
